Kira and the Dwarf King
by CatAlucard
Summary: An adventure-romance that incorporates elements of the movies and the book. Kira is a nomad from the Eryn Vorn forest who travels to Hobbiton to find work. She is hired by Gandalf to aid in the Quest of Erebor and ends up in a love triangle with Fili and Thorin. Will ultimately include an alternate ending to the Hobbit. NOTE: I don't own any part except my character.
1. Introductions

**Chapter 1: Introductions**

Kira continued walking down the riverbank a comfortable pace listening to the soft bubble of the water next to her. This river, she will later find to be called, was the Brandywine in the common tongue. She was more relaxed than she had been yesterday; there had been not a single soul in sight for hours now nor any sign of permanent settlements. The weather was quite nice, too. She lowered her hood to allow the warmth to bathe her tanned cheeks. The breeze felt heavenly blowing in between her many blue-black braids and on the back of her neck.

She was thankful that she had put forth the extra effort to weave the lightweight cloth for her summer clothes early this season. Had she not, she would have been stuck in her winter fur and leather for this walk north to a new life, in which case she would have been deciding between comfort and decency right now instead of enjoying the weather.

"If only I'd had a chance to say something to my mother before leaving," she thought out loud to herself in the pidgin language of her people, "but that would involve actually sharing the same space as her," she retorted to herself bitterly. In spite of this abandonment being nothing new, Kira couldn't help but feel a stab pain in her chest as she thought of talking to her mother. She was going to miss her dearly in spite of her sickness.

She had only just begun to wonder how long she should really be gone from the forest (she had not gotten that far in planning when she left four days ago) when she began to spot some man-made structures up ahead. Kira readjusting the straps on her pack and began to mentally prepare herself to meet other people.

"You can do it," she muttered for herself, "just look out for any available work." She glanced over herself once more to ensure she still looked presentable in spite of all the walking.

She was pleased to see that her blouse was still the bright white color it was the day she traded for the thread and that her pants were not too dirty. She worried, however, that she would be ill-received for wearing pants, but reminded herself that she did have her dress as a back up if necessary.

To her surprise, the people were not much smaller than herself, and definitely not bigger, much to Kira's relief. Unlike her, however, there were very pale with curly brown hair and big hairy feet.

She passed an older gentleman herding several pigs along. She stopped and watched him work with wide-eyed interest since she had never witnessed a farmer before. The man caught her staring and dismissed her with a quick, "Good afternoon."

_Right. _She thought to herself. _Stop staring at people and look for help wanted signs._ Kira took a deep breath and focus very hard on the few signs that she could see. She was never very good at reading, but she knew the writing for the words of her trades well enough. She peered closely at each sign one by one. Many of them were of hobbit family names unbeknownst to her, and she unfortunately could not make out what they were indicating.

Several hours past and she was starting to panic that she couldn't recognize any of these markings. Perhaps she didn't know as much of the common language as she thought. Twice she attempted to approach a person, but each time they had given her a lookover, bade her, "Good Evening" and scurried off.

She sat down on a nearby bench, night having already fallen on the land known as The Shire, and began to hyperventilate. He body was shaking and her skin felt cold and clammy. She pulled her cloak from her bag and wrapped it around her shoulders, shivering.

"Oh gods, what was I thinking? This has been your worst mistake, yet, Kira," she chastised herself. She knew what was coming but she did not want to give into her fear. She closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around her stomach, and lowered her head. She took one deep breath counting slowly to 5 as she inhaled and again as she exhaled. She slowly breathed again. And again.

After a few minutes, Kira had gotten herself together enough to think. "It is too late for today. Let's find an Inn. Start on the right. You know what I-N-N looks like."

She calmly stood up and looked at the first door. No sign.

She moved to the second door. This sign was much to long to be I-N-N.

She moved to the third door. She very nearly missed a marking on the door that looked very familiar. Had it not been for her panicked brain scouring every inch of it, she would have missed the small character. She racked her brain trying to remember where it looked familiar. "Ahh yes, the sailor had that marking on his arm," she remembered the man her father had saved from the shipwreck so many years ago.

_Father said something about it meaning treasure-seeker or burglar for hire_, she thought to herself. She glanced up and down the door and garden. It looked too peaceful to be the home of a burglar, so perhaps he was looking for one? _I could be a burglar, _she thought to herself. She was quite handy with any tools and was very quiet when she wanted to be. _It doesn't hurt to ask, right?_

She gave a confident knock at the door before noticing the bell. _Idiot. _ She rang the bell loudly hoping to cover up her faux pas.

She heard an agitated voice coming from the other side of the door, "Now who could this possibly be! We have plenty of dwarves here, thank you! Twelve is quite enough!"

Kira considered running away and trying back tomorrow given the mood the owner seemed to be in. Before she could make up her mind to leave, Bilbo yanked the door open in a huff.

"Wait, you aren't a dwarf," he said a little flummoxed.

He stared at the woman in his doorway. She was clearly not a dwarf (didn't dwarf women have beards?) and she was too short to be a human or elf. She was clearly no hobbit, either: her hair was very long and a beautiful jet-black, tied back in many intricate braids. She wore plain travel clothes, a white flowy shirt and black pants. Her skin was smooth and darker than any skin tone Bilbo had seen. He decided that caramel or copper would be a good word for the tone. She looked fairly young, too.

"Excuse me, sir?" Kira said a little hesitantly. His staring at her was making her uncomfortable and she was beginning to fidget. Bilbo snapped out of his short stupor and remembered his manners.

"My apologies! I must have gotten lost in thought. I am Bilbo Baggins of Bag End. Can I help you?"

The woman smiled as she answered, "Yes, I'm applying to burglar." Her faced contorted slightly at the last word, as though she was unsure of what she said. Her speech sounded a little off, like she wasn't used to speaking in pure Westron. "No," she corrected herself, "I would like to be a burglar," she smiled again, "If you need one."

"Well, I…" Bilbo stammered unsure of how to respond to her.

Gandalf had been watching for his return to the dining room full of dwarves eating supper and had begun to wonder if Bilbo had run off. The wizard stood up as well as he could in Bilbo's small home and walked briskly to the door. He found Bilbo stammering in the doorway.

"Bilbo," Gandalf interrupted, "You have guests in need of supper! What on Earth could be holding you?" Gandalf opened the door wider and saw the women standing before them. "Oh my. Where have you come from my dear?"

"The south." She responded. She wasn't sure if her being a nomad would be detrimental to this interview. "My people live in the forests but I have trades that benefit any quest. I made everything you see on my person."

"The south…" Gandalf murmured to himself. "Well let her in Bilbo! Let us adjourn to your study. That is still where you keep your maps, correct? Fetch one that includes the south of the Shire."

Bilbo stepped aside to allow Kira to enter. Without a word he went off to his books and maps to rummage around for a suitable one. Gandalf took her cloak and pack and lead Kira to the study.

"What is your name, my dear?" He spoke kindly to her since he had been noticing her fidgeting becoming more pronounced as the awkward silence went on. He did not want to alarm her.

Kira looked up at the tall wizard. She was beginning to get a little frightened of her situation, but she did her best to not let it show.

"My name is Kira, sir." Gandalf motioned for her to sit in one of Bilbo's armchair once they had reached the study. She slowly sat down as a rush of relief shot up her legs. She had not noticed how sore her feet were until now. She let out a small sigh and sank into the soft chair.

Bilbo held out the map in front of Gandalf. "Gandalf, would this suffice?" He asked the Wizard.

"Wonderfully, thank you." Gandalf gingerly took the map from the hobbit and waved him away. Bilbo reluctantly returned to the dining room where the dwarves had elevated their party to a whole new level.

Kira heard much laughing going on in the house and roars of my voices competing for attention. She tried to ignore the noise and focus on her job interview.

"Now can your outline your journey for me using this map? You are here," Gandalf pointed to Hobbiton on the map, "and you said you came from the south?"

"Yes," Kira began, "I come from the forests here by the coast," she pointed to Eryn Vorn on the map. "My mother is ill and my father is gone. I followed the river to find work." She traced her finger down the Baranduin River as she said this. She was quite pleased with how good her language was sounding so far. "I am quiet and can fare well on my own in a mission. Would you employ me in your quests?" She finished this sentence with a smile.

"Quite so my dear! I believe you would be an invaluable addition to our party!" Gandalf responded with a chuckle. "To think I would come across a nomad at my age! Hrrmph!" With that, Gandalf got up and returned to the rest of the party.

Kira couldn't help but squeak as she scrambled up to follow her new employer. _Yes! And I didn't even have to marry anyone. _She thought to herself quite pleased. Looks like she won't need her dress after all. Things could not have gone better. She was grinning as she entered the dining room full of dwarves. She was not too fond of parties full of people, but she was determined to make a good impression.

Kira entered the very cramped room and mumbled excuse me's and pardons as she made her way to the far end of the table. The dwarves were so engrossed in their merriment that the really didn't notice her until she bumped straight into Fili, who was leaving the table to refill mugs of ale.

"Pardon me, miss." He said as he rushed past her. Fili then stopped in his tracks. _Miss? _ He thought to himself. He turned around and looked at her again. "Oi! Is she supposed to be here, Gandalf?" The other dwarves took notice of her at last. Fili now glanced between the wizard and Kira, the latter of whom was glancing between all the faces now on her. She was getting very uncomfortable.

The dwarves all started talking at once: "Who is she?" "Is she a hobbit, too?" "She looks nothing like the other one." "Maybe she is diseased." "Shut up, Ori." "Did the wizard invite her?"

Fili got very close (much too close, in Kira's opinion) and studied her face and braids. He was no more than and inch away from her face, his long nose very nearly brushing against hers as he stared into her dark golden eyes.

Kira dared not breathe. She did not know if this inspection was normal behavior or not, but knew she did not want to offend anyone on her first day. She held her breath and stood perfectly still while Fili stared. "Oh my…" he gasped, "Kili come look! She has gold in her eyes."

"What? Gold?" Kili jumped over the table to join his brother in staring at her eyes. "My God, Gandalf what creature have you brought us?" Kili grinned at her while his brother continued to stare, seemingly mesmerized by the swirls of gold in her eyes.

"Enough of this!" Gandalf shouted getting up. "Leave that poor girl alone. Fili!" With a soft sigh, Fili broke his eye contact and looked back at the wizard.

"Who is she then?" Fili asked. "I don't think my uncle will appreciate your female companion listening in on our planning." The dwarves chuckled in agreement.

Kira finally breathed again once Fili was more than a couple feet away from her again. She cleared her throat. She needed to establish a positive rapport now, and she was not convinced that being called an old man's "companion" was a good start to this.

"I am Kira." She stated as firmly as she could. The dwarves turned their attention back to her again. "I was hired by Gandalf to be your burglar this evening." She was beginning to feel her confidence returning.

"Too bad we don't need a burglar this evening." Gloin retorted to the laughter of many of the older dwarves. She felt her confidence creeping away again.

"Master Gloin, she will be accompanying us on our quest," Gandalf interjected. "I interviewed her myself. She is a nomad of the southern forest of Eryn Vorn and I do believe she can help us. At least, we are not in any position to turn away able bodies!"

"We'll see what Thorin has to say once he arrives," Dwalin said plainly returning to his ale.

"Indeed," Gandalf said quietly returning to his pipe.

As the dwarves settled back into their food and ale, Balin found Kira a chair and kindly placed it next to Kili. "Here you are, miss," he said with a smile. Kira thanked him and sat down. She pulled out a patch of leather from her pocket and removed the needle and thread she had embedded in the hem of her shirt. She started stitching a pattern in the leather. Kira had found that keeping her hands busy was key to keeping herself relaxed.

She watched as the dwarves finished their food and began to clear up the mess she presumed they had made. Bilbo seemed to have quite forgotten her as he attempted to direct the dwarves around his house. The poor hobbit was quite flustered at this point.

Kira chuckled quietly to herself at his poor interactions with the laid back dwarves. She did not interrupt since she still was unsure of what was appropriate.

Kira placed the patch of leather back in her pocket and walked over to the kitchen where most of the dwarves had begun to gather. Bilbo had gone off to complain to Gandalf about the state of his house.

"They've all but destroyed the plumbing. I don't understand what they are doing in my house!" Bilbo glared at the wizard as he stamped about his house.

She felt quite sorry for him so decided to help Bifur with the dishes that had piled up. Bifur said nothing to her, just smiled as she rolled up her sleeves.

Before she realized what was happening, Bifur began catching dishes as they were thrown to him. He laughed at her shocked face.

"That's nothing, lass. Watch this." He washed the dish and handed it to her to dry it right as another whizzed by his head. He caught each dish with ease. She dried it off. "Now toss it back!" He said with glee. He knew what was coming next.

As though it were rehearsed, the dwarves broke out in merry song as they cleaned the dishes. Bilbo was at a loss.

For the first time since leaving the forest, Kira laughed. She was genuinely enjoying the company of these dwarves though they hadn't paid her much mind since their first awkward encounter. She even joined in for some of the repeated lines:

_Blunt the knives bend the forks!  
Smash the bottles and burn the corks!  
Chip the glasses and crack the plates!  
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates -_

Cut the cloth tread on the fat!  
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat!  
Pour the milk on the pantry floor!

Splash the wine on every door!  
Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;  
Pound them up with a thumping pole;  
And when you've finished, if they are whole,

Send them down the hall to roll!

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!

As the song came to an end, Bilbo stared incredulously at a plate of unbroken, clean dishes.

Before he could say anything, three firm knocks were heard at the door.

A hush fell over the room as all eyes turned to the door.

"He's here," said Gandalf solemnly. Gandalf rose and went to the door.

"Who is here?" Kira asked Kili quietly. Kili gave her a look of surprise, as if he hadn't noticed she was standing next to him this whole time.

"Thorin, my uncle," he replied with a proud smile.

"Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of this company," Fili corrected him. Fili gave Kili a sharp look and gave Kira a soft smile.

"Oh," she responded. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to know who he was.

"Let's see what he thinks of you." Fili gently placed a hand on her back as they all walked over to the door to greet their leader.

* * *

**Let me know what you think! This is my first FanFic so all comments and constructive criticisms are encouraged and welcomed. :)**


	2. Enter Thorin, Son of Thrain

**Chapter 2: Enter Thorin Son of Thrain**

All the dwarves had gathered around the front door to greet their leader. Kira was standing just in front of Fili, nervously kneading the hem of her shirt in her hands. She realized that her job might still be in jeopardy after all.

Kira was so wrapped up in her worries that she had quite forgotten that Fili still had his hand on her back. She didn't notice him studying her braids. She didn't know that he had the image of her golden eyes burned into the back of his mind.

Fili was curious to see how his uncle would take this unexpected applicant. Thus far, Fili had judged that Kira would probably make a better burglar that Bilbo since she was clearly no stranger to long travel and had snuck up on Kili quite unintentionally already. He was interested to see if she would make the same impression on Thorin; Thorin's opinion was the one that really mattered, after all.

"Gandalf," Thorin Son of Thrain spoke in his low baritone, "I thought you said this place would be easy to find." He entered the hobbit hole and removed his cloak. "I lost my way, twice. I would not have found it at all if it weren't for that mark on the door." Thorin started folding his cloak.

Bilbo stormed up to the door. "Mark? What mark? There is not mark on that door. It was painted a week ago!"

"There is a mark. I put it there myself," Gandalf responded with a slightly guilty expression. "Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."

Thorin passed his folded cloak to Kili and gave Bilbo a skeptical smirk. "So this is the hobbit."

Thorin slowly began to circle Bilbo, looking him up and down. "So tell me Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting?"

"Pardon me?"

"Axe or sword, what is your weapon of choice?"

"Well I do have some skill at conkers, if you must know," Bilbo retorted sarcastically. Thorin stopped and bore his eyes into him, "But I fail to see why that's relevant…" Bilbo trailed off.

"Thought as much," Thorin gave Bilbo a satisfied smirk and turned to the other dwarves, "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." The dwarves laughed.

Fili took this opportunity to gain his uncle's attention. He shouted over the laughter: "What about her?" With a mischievous grin, he pushed Kira forward toward Thorin, very nearly tripping her. Luckily she had decent balance. Until that point, Kira had been so mesmerized by the air of royalty that surrounded this dwarf that she had forgotten her anxiety altogether.

Fili's push quickly returned it.

Thorin gave Fili a glance before walking to Kira to study her for himself. He stopped at about a foot's distance from her. _At least he is more than an inch from me. _Kira thought to herself, trying to remain optimistic. She held her breath as Thorin spoke.

"And who and what are you?" He looked at her entirely, studying her braids for a moment longer than the rest of her before fixing his gaze in her eyes.

"I am Kira. I am a nomad from the south. Gandalf employed me as your burglar . . . as well," she added the last part upon realizing that she may be in cooperation with the hobbit for the job.

"Really," Thorin shot Gandalf a skeptical look. "Don't you have a family to attend to, lass?" He smirked.

"Not here," Kira stated firmly, "my responsibilities are only to myself and to my employer." She clenched her fists to keep her hands from visibly shaking.

Thorin smiled. "Be that as it may, we bring nothing and no one with us that is not of use. Our quest is not for the faint of heart."

"I have known starvation and I have known danger. If I were not good at facing it, I would not be standing here." _Good answer, _she thought to herself. Kira was very happy with how much easier speaking had become since her arrival. She was grateful that she hadn't choked.

"And what skills have you that would aid our quest?" Thorin had already determined that she was a better applicant than the hobbit; it was clear from her fingers that she worked with her hands and it was clear from the graded difference in the bottoms of her boots to the cuffs that she had done much walking since they were made. He wanted to be thorough, though.

"What skills do you require from me? I have many skills," she replied with more genuine confidence than she'd had with her previous responses. She wasn't entirely sure what skills she would need, but was confident in the assortment she had to choose from.

Thorin considered her question for a moment before responding, "You can discuss the particulars with the wizard. How do you plan to defend yourself in the face of certain danger?"

Kira tried to keep herself from smiling. As if she had a strict formula for defense! She bit her lower lip to hide any hint of a smile, lest he take it the wrong way. She understood why he asked, she just didn't like that he asked in that manner. "I'm smart enough to avoid danger. When danger fails to avoid me, I survive it. I am quicker than most, good with knives, and tread very quietly." She hoped dearly that everything she said made sense.

"I can attest to that," Kili chimed in, "She has snuck up on me once already!"

"As if that's an accomplishment," Fili mumbled to his brother.

Thorin chuckled softly at Fili's comment and turned back to Gandalf. "I approve of this burglar. You can keep the other fellow." The dwarves laughed at this reference to Bilbo. Thorin turned back to Kira and pulled her in an embrace, "Welcome to our company, Kira." The sound of his voice from so close to her ear sent a shiver down her spine. She breathed in the musky scent of the fur lining of his jacket on his shoulder and even a hint of his long dark hair. She would remember his intoxicating scent for the rest of her life.

Kira felt slightly guilty at Thorin's remark about Bilbo, but she was ecstatic that he accepted her. A warmth rose in her cheeks at the thought of Thorin approving of her so quickly; a fellow nomad would have requested a demonstration, but he took her word. And then he embraced her and made her dizzy.

Thorin found Dwalin in the corner of the room and followed him to the dining room.

Gandalf scoffed and muttered to himself something about dwarves and stubbornness, though Kira could not quite hear his exact words in her daze. She came to as she followed the wizard and the rest of the dwarves into the dining room and returned to her seat next to Kili's empty chair. Nori and Dori went about getting food for Thorin as he sat and talked with Balin and Dwalin and the far end of the table. Kira waited for Kili to sit before getting his attention.

Luckily, Kili returned to the same chair as before. "Thank you," she said quietly to Kili, her eyes lowered in earnest. "I am grateful for your voucher." Kili gave her a quizzical look then laughed, "I only spoke the truth of you! It is my brother you should be thanking for his push."

Kili stood and punched his brother's arm playfully while Fili sat down at the chair on Kira's other side. Fili gave his brother a pointed look before punching him back in kind. Kili shook it off with a devious grin and turned to eavesdrop on Thorin as he spoke to Dwalin. Kira awkwardly turned to Fili to see if he was listening to Thorin, too. When Fili smiled, she felt it was a good time to thank him.

"Thank you, Fili, for vouching for me to Thorin," she said quietly, trying to exaggerate her downcast eyes and her earnest. For nomads, lies are told to the eyes and she wanted to be clear that she meant her appreciation.

Fili chucked softly and leaned in to Kira. He placed one finger on her chin and lifted it slightly. Kira felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her at this invasion of her space, though she did not show it. She looked up into his eyes with a confused look.

Fili smiled, completely unaware that his touch had any effect on her. "The only thanks I require is a chance to look into those golden eyes again." He laughed as her eyes widened and her tanned cheeks showed the smallest hint of reddening.

Kira was speechless. She was quite self-conscious of people speaking about her physical appearance. Luckily, she was saved from having to form a response: Thorin had eaten at this point and the real business discussion started.

"Gandalf, dwarves, Kira, and Mr. Baggins," Thorin began in a voice that clearly commanded the attention of the room, "We are met together in the house of our friend and fellow conspirator, [he said this part with a smirk and air of sarcasm] this most excellent and audacious hobbit. We are met to discuss our plan, our ways, means, policy and devices. We shall soon before the break of day start on our long journey, a journey from which some of us, or perhaps all of us (except our friend and counselor, the ingenious wizard Gandalf) may never return. It is a solemn moment. Our object is, I take it, well known to us all. To the estimable Mr. Baggins, to Kira, and perhaps to one or two of the younger dwarves (I think I should be right in naming Fili and Kili for instance), the exact situation at the moment may require a little brief explanation-"

Thorin would have continued to speak in this regal manner had he not been rudely interrupted by a certain hobbit completely at his wit's end. At the point in Thorin's speech "may never return", a shriek came up in Bilbo that he simply couldn't contain anymore. Gandalf illuminated the darkened room with a light at the end of his staff. This new light revealed poor Bilbo shaking on the floor crying out "struck by lightning, struck by lightning" over and over again. Kira and Fili leapt up and carried the convulsing hobbit to the drawing room and laid him out on a sofa. They both could hear Gandalf attempting to excuse Bilbo's behavior in the dining room:

"Excitable little fellow," said Gandalf as he sat down again and extinguished his staff. "Gets funny queer fits, but he is one of the best, one of the best—as fierce as a dragon in a pinch."

The dwarves could be heard grumbling at this while Bilbo was beginning to calm himself. Fili and Kira let go of his limbs and watched him for a moment to be sure he was done shaking before returning to hear the rest of Thorin's speech.

Gandalf watched the pair enter and asked, "How is dear Bilbo?"

Fili answered right away, "He is done with his fits for now, if that's what you ask." To Kira he said more quietly, "We'll see how fine he is when he sees the dragon." Kira did not respond. Though she agreed that Bilbo did not seem up for this quest, she did not feel comfortable speaking ill of her host, especially with the wizard in the same room. Kira strared at her hands for a bit then looked to Thorin to see if he would continue.

As Thorin gave a summary of their quest's objective, Kira noticed Bilbo quietly sneak back into the room. She was unsure if anyone else noticed his return or the look of embarrassment painted on his face, but not a single soul would dare interrupt Thorin again.

Kira allowed herself to get lost in Thorin's voice. His voice seemed to wrap around her like the softest fur and cradle her close. Looking into his dark blue eyes, eye like the sea, as he spoke of Erebor felt strangely intimate. Ordinarily, she would never let her guard down like this, but she felt oddly at home with this company.

Fili listened to Thorin intently but caught himself glancing periodically between Kili, Kira, and Thorin. He looked at Thorin to show he was paying attention. He looked at Kili to check that his brother was paying attention. He wasn't sure why he was looking at Kira. Perhaps it had something to do with how the candlelight danced in her eyes making them more beautiful than before. Maybe it had to do with how captivated she looked as she listened to his uncle.

Thorin finished his speech with a cry of "Du bekar, du bekar!" prompting cheering from the dwarves all with the exception of Balin. Kira couldn't help but cheer as well.

"You forget: the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain," Balin said with a grim expression.

Gandalf pulled a piece of folded parchment from his pocket.

"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true. Bilbo! Fetch the lamp and let's have a little light on this." Gandalf smoothed the map out on the table. Bilbo rushed over with a newly lit lamp and placed it next to the map.

"This was made by Thror, your grandfather, Thorin. It is a plan of the Mountain." Gandalf pointed to the mountain drawn on the map as he spoke. Twiddling his fingers, the wizard produced a key and handed it to Thorin.

Thorin took the key with an expression of wonder on his face, "How came you by this?"

Gandalf continued, "That was given to me by your father, by Thrain, for safekeeping. It is yours now."

"If there is a key, there must be a door," Fili interjected.

"These runes point to a hidden passage to the Lower Halls," the wizard continued, pointing to the left side of the map.

Kili gasped, "There is another way in!"

"Well, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed. The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle-earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But, if we are careful and clever, I believe that it can be done." Gandalf leaned back at this point and took another drag from his pipe.

"So this is why we need our burglars," Ori chimed in. He gave Bilbo and Kira looks of approval.

Balin glanced at Bilbo before looking back at the wizard. "I'm afraid Mr. Baggins is hardly burglar material." Bilbo and the majority of the dwarves nodded in agreement.

"Confound it all! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar then a burglar he is!" The wizard was clearly frustrated: the air around him seemed to darken with his words. "Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet and can pass unseen by most. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company, and I have chosen Mr. Baggins. There's a lot more to him than appearances suggest, and he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including himself. You must trust me on this."

Thorin did not seem to be phased by the wizard's outburst. "Very well," he said as he turned to Balin, "give our burglars their contracts."

_Contracts? _Kira's throat constricted. She didn't realize that any contract was going to be needed for this job. She began to panic a little inside as Balin handed her a rather extensive document with very few words that she recognized. As she unfolded it, she was unsure if she should say anything.

Balin seemed to tell something was wrong and explained, "It's just the usual summary of out-of-pocket expenses time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth."

"Oh," Kira spoke softly, "thank you." Balin smiled and went back to his seat at Thorin's side. The panic swelling inside of her must have been clear on her face. Fili gave her a concerned look.

"Kira? Is everything alright?" Fili asked her in a gentle voice, "You look like you've seen a phantom."

Kira wrestled with herself. She didn't want her illiteracy to be an issue but there seemed to be no way around it. She was expected to sign her name, something she couldn't possibly talk them out of. She had no choice but to tell someone. Could she trust him?

"Fili, can I trust you with a secret?" She looked ashamed as she spoke.

"Of course," Fili glanced around the room and realized that it was full of potential eavesdroppers. "Let's look at contract that in a room with better lighting," Fili grabbed the contract in one hand and Kira's hand in the other. Fili shot a quick look to his brother, a look that Kira missed, before leaving the room with the Nomad in tow.

They ended up in Bilbo's bedroom since it was furthest from the commotion of the rest of the dwarves.

Fili let go of Kira's hand. "What is it? I do not judge you, I promise." He was itching to hear what her secret was. He sat down on the bed leaving her plenty of space to sit next to him.

Kira remained standing. She paused for a moment debating still if she should reveal her weakness to someone. He seemed close to his brother, so she guessed Kili might hear of this as well. Kira decided to risk it, anyway.

"I cannot read. I don't know what this contract says and I cannot write my name. I am sorry to burden you with my problem." Her hands began to tremble. She hated the idea of ever looking weak in front of someone, especially a dwarf who was almost a complete stranger.

Fili shook his head and smiled. "As if you needed to keep that a secret! There is no shame in leading a life that hasn't required you to learn these skills."

"I am not ashamed of my life, only of being crippled in this moment," Kira sighed. "Could I trouble you to help me sign? I don't need to sort out payment; I don't have much use for treasure."

_What a strange girl, _Fili thought to himself. _Everyone has use for treasure. _"Of course. Let us find a quill and inkpot." Fili stood up and walked to the desk behind Kira and began to rummage around for ink.

"Thank you," Kira said with a smile. "I am happy to count you as a friend, Fili. If I can repay your favor someday please let me know."

Fili signed her name with a flourish on the tail of the 'a'. "Don't worry," he blew on the ink to dry it and looked into Kira's eyes, "I'll hold you to that, love." He gave her a grin and passed her the contract.

Kira did not seem to notice what he called her. She took the contract gingerly and held it close to her person. She gave Fili a small bow, "Thank you," she said once more. Kira walked out of the room and headed back to find Balin. Fili followed not too far behind.

Kira presented Balin the contract with a small bow. "As requested, Master Balin," she said as she stood back up.

Balin took out his lens and inspected the contract. He gave a stern look to Fili who pretended not to notice. Kira worried that Balin would question the document but he simply folded it up with a smile.

A low, beautiful voice slowly filled the room. Kira turned to see Thorin by the fireplace, his face solemn and beautiful. Kira could not help but feel all the sorrow in the voices that joined him in song. She felt the throaty notes pluck at her heart such that she could no longer stand. She slowly moved to the adjacent room, the very room that Fili and she had taken Bilbo during his fits. She sat down on the sofa and closed her eyes. Drawing her knees up, she allowed herself to drift off to sleep…

_Far over the misty mountains cold _

_To dungeons deep and caverns old _

_We must away ere break of day  
To find our long-forgotten gold _

_The pines were roaring on the height _

_The winds were moaning in the night_

_The fire was red, it flaming spread  
The trees like torches blazed with light _

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I just had to work in 'struck by lightning', so I apologize if this was a little awkward. Please let me know what you think!**


	3. An Encounter with Trolls

**Chapter 3: An Encounter With Trolls**

Kira woke at the first glimmer of the sun in the sky. She yawned as she sat up and looked around; she had almost forgotten where she was.

She yawned again. As Kira stood up, she noticed a blanket fall to the floor. _ Good to know my company cares as much, _she thought to herself with a smile. She stretched her arms as she walked past sleeping dwarves and outside.

At the top of the hill that Bilbo's house was built into, she found a nice soft patch for her morning ritual. Facing the nearest tree, she kneeled down and began to sing in a rough mixture of many languages, her eyes on her hands. The prayer/song translated roughly as follows:

_Night is done and Sleep is gone_

_Praise Sun for the bounty you give us now_

_With this new day we give new blood_

_Take this offer and protect us, oh soft sweet Sun_

As with most translations, the melody is lost in the end result, but the meaning is there. She lifted her eyes are watched the sun join the sky. She returned to the hobbit hole.

She re-entered to find the house stirring, though not with the same energy as the night before. In the makeshift dining room, Thorin sat smoking, staring at the map of the Lonely Mountain. In the kitchen, Balin and Ori were busy making breakfast. Within the next few minutes, the other dwarves came into either the kitchen or dining room.

Kira nibbled on a couple carrots that were left in Bilbo's pantry as a breakfast. These dwarves, and even the hobbit ate more in one sitting than she did in a week! It was always a shock to see them eat. Even after months have passed, as she would find out later, it would still be a shocking site for her. While she waited for the company to move out, she worked on her patch of leather in her pocket.

Fili and Kili came into the room with far more energy than the older dwarves: "I'm telling you, it was some kind of Faerie! What else sounds like that?" Kili argued.

"Faeries aren't real, you dolt. You were probably still drunk from last night!" Fili laughed at his brother.

"If that be so, I plan to be drunk every night just to hear that voice again! May she sing me to wake for the rest of my life."

Fili just shook his head as they sat down. Kili ignored him and continued, "I will bet you anything that she has blessed our quest and will keep us safe on our journey! Mahal is watching over us!"

"Tell that to Smaug why don't you?" Fili teased at him, grinning at his brother. Kira smiled to herself and wondered what a faerie was. Surely it was something very beautiful for this young dwarf to rave about hearing one.

The older dwarves glanced at each other and just chuckled. This young dwarf had no inkling of real war, yet they did not want to stifle his enthusiasm.

Thorin looked up from the map and smiled at his young nephew, "We'll see our favor with Luck soon enough, Kili," he folded the map and stood placing a hand on Kili's shoulder. "Time to move out, everyone. We leave from the Green Dragon at 11am sharp."

"What about the hobbit? Should we wake him?" Ori asked cautiously.

Balin answered, "The wizard has informed us that he will not be accompanying us. Luckily, we have Kira to take his place." She nodded slightly in response.

"Then let us collect our ponies," Thorin got up before anybody could say anything else.

As the dwarves quickly cleaned the hobbit hole, Ori wrote out a quick note to Bilbo letting him know of their appointment. Unbeknownst to Ori, Bilbo would come anyway without having seen the note.

Kira rushed through her share of the cleaning. She was eager to follow Thorin. The other dwarves were still at work when she left nearly sprinting in the direction Thorin had walked, hopefully to the Green Dragon Inn. It was funny to her that she had only needed to look for a sign with a Dragon yesterday to find her I-N-N. She was happy in the end, though, that she had not found the inn that night. She might not have had the opportunity to ever meet Thorin with his deep, learned eyes.

As she approached, she saw many ponies outside. Dwalin and Thorin were going over their supplies. Dwalin saw Kira running toward them.

"Eager to get on a pony are you, lass? Here, take this one." He untied one and handed her the reigns.

"Yes," she said, "I'm eager to learn." This was mostly true.

"Learn?" Dwalin repeated with a laugh. "It's easy enough, lass." Dwalin helped Kira on the pony and gave her a run down of riding. Kira listened closely, glancing at Thorin every now and then. She was eager for anything, any sort of reaction from him. Much to her dismay, he seemed more amused at Dwalin's double-entendres that Kira was completely missing.

"Be gentle with him after a long day of riding. He'll be pretty sore," Dwalin chuckled at himself, "Mind you, you're arse will be pretty sore, too."

"Make's sense," she said, getting a little bored. Soreness is to be expected from a long day of doing anything repeatedly, so she wasn't sure why Dwalin was emphasizing it presently.

"Ah, and here is the rest of the company," Thorin interrupted, "just in time to spare my ears from any more of your ill-conceived attempts at flirting." He and Dwalin both laughed and mounted their ponies. The dwarves seemed to naturally find their ponies and form a roughly linear riding group.

Kira's face felt like it was burning. She hadn't noticed any flirting and certainly didn't contribute. Maybe the king was teasing her? Either way, she felt like running away. Instead, she kept her pony toward the middle of the group while Dwalin and Thorin were at the front. Once Gandalf had appeared, riding a beautiful white horse, the group started trotting forward.

Kira was a natural at riding. She whispered a thank you for the gods into the wind as she maneuvered her pony with ease.

They had not gotten very far before she could hear shouts coming from the road behind them. The Company stooped to see Bilbo flying up the path, his contract flapping in the wind. Bilbo ran straight to Balin, nearly out of breath.

"I signed it," Bilbo said as he handed Balin the contract. Balin inspected it for a bit before concluding that everything was in order.

"Get him a pony." Thorin growled before starting off again, quite ignoring Bilbo's protestations.

Fili and Kili flanked the hobbit, picked him up, and plopped him down on a pony in one fluid motion.

Gandalf chuckled before trotting off at the lead again.

The group settled into an even pace that spread them out along the road to give their ponies space. After several hours, Kira started to get very bored. She adjusted some of her braids to pass the time, but the task did not take as long as she had hoped. She considered working on her patch of leather, but she figured that the movement of the pony would make her stab her fingers more than the leather.

Kira looked at the dwarves closest to her. Oin, Gloin, and Nori were engaged in what sounded like long-winded stories of their childhood. _Boring,_ she thought to herself. She spotted Fili and Kili not far ahead of her and trotted up to them in hopes of joining a more interesting conversation. She had not forgotten Kili's ravings about the faerie earlier that day and was looking forward to hearing the rest of the story.

The pair grew quiet as she approached, with Kili clearly stifling laughter. Kira glanced between them before asking, "have I interrupted you?" She would take no offense if they asked her to leave. It was not as if she had been invited to speak with them. She smiled, hoping to ease their awkwardness, "I can leave if you are discussing something sensitive."

"Not just yet," Kili said with a devilish grin, "Fili, is it . . . sensitive?" Kili could hardly stifle a laugh. "Would you like to watch her as she leaves?"

"Watch you tongue, my idiot brother, before you lose it!" Fili growled at him clenching his fists.

"I think I should go..." Kira said cautiously as she saw Fili getting more and more angry and his brother. They had both stopped by this point and were getting off their ponies.

Kira was scared that whatever argument they were having would come to blows. Kili had begun to get defensive at his brother not taking his jokes well and Fili was angry for Kili continuing with his jokes.

"Can't you take a joke anymore? Did you stick something up your arse before getting on that pony?" Kili shouted. He was clearly not laughing anymore.

Fili was not holding back anymore, "You can't just shut your mouth. Someone always has to shut it for you! You aren't a child anymore and I'm done treating you like one!"

The dwarves that brought up the rear of their party had dismounted and surrounded the two brothers, ready to jump in if they did begin to fight. Gandalf, Balin, Dwalin, and Thorin were so far ahead of the group that they had not realized just yet that anything was wrong.

Kira couldn't handle watching the fight. She rode of down the path as quickly as she could make her pony go. She soon reached the three dwarves. The wizard was nowhere in sight.

"Thorin!" Kira exclaimed, "You must come quickly. I don't know what is happening with Fili and Kili but they may hurt each other."

Thorin's face grew annoyed, "What in Durin's name have they done now," he asked rhetorically, and kicked his pony to run down the road. Balin and Dwalin looked at each other. Balin sighed and both followed Thorin and Kira.

"Shazara!" Thorin yelled at his sister's sons upon his arrival on the scene. They had been yelling and pushing each other. As soon as saw the look on Thorin's face, they stepped away from each other, incredibly ashamed. "I told Dis that you were grown enough for this quest, but clearly I should have left the children at home!"

Thorin dismounted from his pony and glared at the other dwarves. He singled out Gloin, "Were you not present to stop their stupidity? The shame of having the nomad to be the one to fetch me!"

Everyone was deadly silent. They all felt like they were being scolded. Thorin surveyed the area just off the road and saw a small clearing in the trees.

"We camp here tonight. Bombur make something. We're hungry. Fili, Kili, look after the ponies," he glared right at Fili when he spoke, "Make sure you keep your eye on them."

Kira was relieved to see everyone attending to their duties, chatting, happy to be resting after the long trek. Oin and Gloin made a fire for Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Bilbo to make dinner. Bilbo and Bifur saw to it that everyone received a fair portion. Balin was sitting on a far rock as their lookout. Dwalin, Nori, Dori, and Thorin were planning for the next day while Ori listened in and knitted. Kira sat next to Ori for a bit and worked on her leather patch.

Fili and Kili had been banished to the edge of camp to watch the ponies, so were out of sight. Kira had been listening intently though, and she knew that they had been quiet for a while. She hoped that the silence mean that they had made up. She decided to see for herself. She stood up and walked quietly to where the brothers were watching the ponies.

Fili was sitting alone on a felled tree when she approached, eating dinner.

"Can I join you?" Kira asked when she was right behind him. Poor Fili nearly choked on his bite of stew. He coughed and spluttered while Kira patted him firmly on the back and handed him his drink. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Yet you succeeded anyway," he responded with one last cough and a smile. 'What can I do for you, miss?"

Kira sat next to him and moved her hand from his back to his forearm. "I came to see if everything was okay with you and your brother and if there was anything I could do."

Fili set his bowl down next to him and turned to face her, placing his hand on hers, "I am genuinely sorry that you had to witness our argument. It was indecent of us. I speak for both of us when I extend our sincerest regret."

Kira smiled, "So you have made amends with your brother, then?"

Fili sighed. "It is more complicated then that. Much has changed since we left our mother, Kira. I fear he does not realize what is at stake." He sounded almost sad as he said this. It occurred to Kira that he was beginning to sound more like Thorin, intentionally or not. He saw that her smile had fallen, so he chuckled lightly, "Do not fret, I love my brother and would not fight with him again. I suppose the fight was primarily my fault," he paused for reaction. Kira said nothing so he continued. "I wasn't myself this morning and took it out on my dear brother. I've been thinking a great deal of the future, of being a member of a ruling family once more. You've told me a secret of yours, so I'll tell you one of mine. I fear that my uncle will not survive this quest. I fear that we will re-take Erebor only to have it fall right out of our hands at my poor leadership."

Kira laughed and shook her head. "As if you should be ashamed of that! It is a reasonable fear to have. I assure you, though, you could hardly be a bad leader. You are very smart and are surrounded by many who love you." It was true: she had observed the care that many of the dwarves had with Fili. He was not treated as being so young as his brother in spite of their being nearly the same age.

"I appreciate your kind words, Kira," Fili responded as he squeezed her hand. He looked back toward camp briefly before standing up. "Kili should be returning any minute now and my uncle wishes to speak to me. Can you watch the ponies until he returns?"

"Of course," Kira responded happily. She was satisfied with her help to him; he seemed to have cheered up some.

"Thank you," Fili said and grabbed his bowl to take with him. He left Kira sitting on the felled tree next to the ponies.

Fili walked away with a renewed sense of purpose. He was beginning to accept his partial ownership of the quest. He was starting to feel like he could be a real prince someday.

Kira had not fully assuaged his worries though. There was another aspect of his brooding from this morning that Fili was concerned about: all of the immediate heirs of Durin were on the quest. Suppose the worst happened and none of them survived? Fili chugged the rest of his soup and threw the bowl to Bofur as he passed him by.

Fili had nothing against Dain, his kin who would be next in line after Kili. Fili was young though, alive, and handsome. He should look toward finding a wife and having children now before he dies, whenever that day may come.

Fili approached Thorin at the rock where he'd replaced Balin as lookout.

"Uncle, you sent for-"

"Not right now, Fili," Thorin turned to his nephew, "Our conversation will have to wait. Fetch the burglar. There are lights there, too near for my comfort. Have her go take a look."

"Those look like torches," Fili observed. His eyes were better than his uncle's. "Surely it's from travelers."

"No, laddie," Thorin didn't mind Fili questioning him. It helped him learn. "We are too close to the mountains. Travellers very seldom come this way since maps are little use. I'm sure it is perfectly safe and canny. Fetch her and let her earn her keep. Come back quick and we will watch from here."

Fili turned to leave and was about to head straight to Kira. On second thought, though, he went for Bilbo. He was feeling a little possessive of her and did not want to risk her going into danger without help.

Bilbo, on the other hand, he was not so overly fond of.

"Oi! Burglar! We have a job for you." Fili shouted at him with a smirk and motioned for him to follow.

"I'm sorry?" said Bilbo a little confused. Bilbo had been sitting and chatting with Bofur. He stood up and followed Fili.

"There is a light blazing just over there," Fili pointed out beyond the edge of the camp. "Thorin needs you to go check it out and report back what you see, quick as you can! If you can't, hoot twice like a barn-owl and once like a screech-owl and we will do what we can."

Off Bilbo was forced to go before he could explain that he could not hoot even once like any kind of owl any more than fly like a bat. He worried dearly about Gandalf's disappearance and had not, thus far, appreciated the cavalier attitudes of the dwarves. But at any rate, he moved very quietly through the woods.

As Bilbo approached the fire, he saw three huge figures all gathered around it. The figured were all toasting mutton on long spits of wood and licking gravy from their fingers. He could hear the trolls bickering with each other:

"Never a blinking bit of manflesh have we had here for long enough. What the 'ell William was a-thinkin' of to bring us into 'ese parts at all, beats me."

"Shut yer mouth!" yelled a second. "Yer can't expect folk to stop here for ever just to be et by you and Bert. You've et a village and a half between yer, since we come down from the mountains."

Bilbo, realizing that he had stopped moving just to listen, surveyed the camp as he got closer. _A first-class burglar would have already emptied their pockets by now. A real burglar would have stolen the very mutton off their spits and walked off without the trolls even noticing,_ Bilbo thought glumly. He was determined to prove himself, though.

He crouched behind one of the trolls and waited for his chance. Once the troll across from him began to chug his grog, Bilbo cautiously reached into the pocket of the troll in front of him. He felt a large coin purse and carefully lifted it out. _Haha! _He thought with glee. _I've made a real start!_

The troll felt the movement in his pocket, reached around, and grabbed Bilbo by the neck before he could scurry off.

"Ere, 'oo are you?" Bilbo's only response was a frightened squeak.

* * *

Back at the camp, Fili and Thorin had been watching for their burglar for several minutes now.

"You told him to signal us if he was in trouble, correct?" Thorin gave Fili a stern look.

"Yes, though he may not be in a position to hoot right now," Fili replied. He had told Thorin that Bilbo had volunteered to go instead of Kira since she was busying herself with the ponies. Fili was beginning to regret his lie.

"Gather the company. Let's save our burglar." Thorin stood up and gathered his weapons. He and Fili went about gathering the dwarves to go.

Fili ran over to where he'd left Kira. She was sitting on the fallen log giggling at some story that Kili was entertaining her with. Fili felt a storm of jealousy as he saw this. He stopped short of where they were and took a deep breath. _Calm down, Kili would never intentionally anger me, _Fili thought to himself. His strong reaction though had only confirmed the suspicions that he wanted to talk to his uncle about, though: Fili was in love with Kira. He wanted to be with her always and didn't want anyone else to enjoy her presence. Even though he barely knew her, he knew she would be a strong, smart mother to his children.

He put these thoughts out of his mind for now; they needed to rescue Bilbo from whatever mess he had sent him into.

"Kili! Kira!" He shouted over to them, "Bilbo needs us! Grab you sword, Kili."

"Our dear hobbit has gotten himself in to trouble, eh?" Kili was grinning his devilish grin.

Fili gave him a light laugh. "You could say that."

"Do you know what kind of trouble?" Kira asked Fili. She didn't know what to take with her. She pocketed her redwood and her flint daggers but left the rest of her pack on her pony. She tied his reigns firmly before sprinting off to join the brothers.

Fili smiled at her reassuringly, "Not yet, but the whole company is going in, just to be safe. What can stand up to thirteen dwarves and a nomad?"

Kira laughed, "I like those odds, Fili." To be honest, she did not know what creature could stand up to that many dwarves. She smiled back at him as they joined the rest of the group.

The company crept forward as quietly as they could. They were lead by Thorin and Fili with Kili not too far behind. Kira opted to stay close to Kili since he had both his sword and bow with him. Once they reached the campsite with the three trolls, the company fanned out around and waited for Thorin's orders.

Fili grabbed Kira's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Stay close to me."

She nodded. Kira figured he had noticed that the only weapons she had were her stone and wood knives. She pulled one of each out of her pockets and gripped them readily at her sides.

Thorin made eye contact with each member of the company before yelling, "Chaaaarge!" They all ran in yelling and began to attack the trolls. The trolls yelled in confusion.

Kira climbed the closest troll in his confusion of being attacked by three things at once and managed to get to his neck before he threw her down. She landed flat on her back, the wind knocked out of her. Never in her life had Kira encountered something so big and so violent. She took a few breaths while Kili and Fili kept wailing on him before crying out again and stabbing the backs of his knees with her stone knife. The troll picked her up and shook her violently, thoroughly disorienting her. Fili screamed for him to drop her, which distracted him enough to be grabbed by a different troll. The troll holding Kira threw her to the ground again. Her head landed on a rock and she was knocked unconscious.

"Stop!" The troll holding Fili splayed his limbs, holding one of his arms in each hand. "Lay down your arms or I'll rip of 'is." Thorin was livid. The dwarves all laid down there arms. The other two trolls immediately started stuffing them into sacks. Kira awoke to see herself be stuffed into a putrid-smelling sack. She could feel blood running down her face and a few bruises here and there, but was otherwise unharmed. She was tossed onto the pile of the other dwarves with a thud.

Woozy, Kira wiggled as much as she could and struggled against the sack. Unfortunately, so was every other dwarf in the pile. She stopped struggle finally to see that she was lying on top of Thorin and Kili. There were not nearly enough dwarves under her though, to be the whole company.

To her horror about six of the dwarves, including Fili, were rotating on a spit above the fire. The trolls were arguing about how they were going to cook them. Kira hoped and prayed under her breath, wishing that Gandalf were there.

The trolls had just decided after much bickering to roast them now and eat them later.

"No good roasting 'em now, it'd take all night," said a voice.

"Don't start the argument all over again, Bill," a troll said, "or it _will_ take all night."

"Who's a-arguing, Bert?" said the other troll. He'd thought it had been Bert that said it.

"You are."

"You're a liar."

This started the argument fresh. In the end they decided to mince them fine and boil them. One troll got out a great black pot and they both took out their knives.

"No good boiling 'em! We ain't got no water, and it's a long way up to the well 'n' all," said a mysterious voice again. This time they thought it was Tom, the third troll.

This started a fresh new argument, which ended when the thundering voice of Gandalf filled the camp: "Dawn take you all, and be stone to you!" Gandalf cracked the boulder on the eastern side of the camp and a flood of new dawn light hit the trolls.

The trolls shrieked and squirmed, but were completely turned to stone before they could move much further.

The company was elated to see the wizard. He could not have come at a better time. If it had not been clear immediately, it was clear now that it was his voice that had kept the trolls bickering.

After being untied and let out of the sack, Kira ran off into the woods as quickly as she could before the morning sun was done rising. She had never missed a morning and did not want to tempt fate by missing this one. She had actually bled today and she didn't want it to get worse.

The rest of the company was too relieved to notice her disappearance. Even Fili had missed her leaving; he had a great deal on his mind, and he was anxious to speak with his uncle.

* * *

**Author: Sorry for how long this chapter ended up being! I'll try to make the next one a little shorter. Thank you so much, everyone, for reading this far!**

**Special thanks to everyone who's followed/favorited/reviewed so far! :)**


	4. A Short Break

**Chapter 4: A Short Break**

The company, tired and bruised, started heading back to their camp when Thorin stopped them. "Check for anything we may use first. Ori, Nori – Go check that the ponies didn't bolt in our absence. Bilbo, a word with you."

Grumbling, the dwarves set about to follow their orders. Bilbo was annoyed now more than anything. His nerves could hardly take anymore.

"What exactly happened? You were sent to scout ahead, not to attempt to slay three trolls on your own." Thorin was too sore and tired to yell. He was angry, though.

Bilbo gave him a simple account of what happened in a very concise but very cross manner. He was irritated that his attempt to prove himself had only proven to nearly get everyone killed.

"Silly time to go practicing pinching and pick-pocketing," said Thorin, not amused. He turned to Dwalin, "Anything worth taking?" They had not been looking very long, but had come up with nothing but cookware thus far.

"We are just wasting time now," Gandalf interrupted with a huff. Don't you realize that the trolls must have a cave or hole dug somewhere near to hide from the sun?"

"You're right," Thorin agreed. "Spread out and look for a cave or hole!" The dwarves shifted their focus from shaking cookware to carefully scouring the nearby woods. Luckily, the cave proved to not be very far and the company quickly gathered around it.

Fili was frustrated. He'd been waiting to talk to Thorin, but the timing seemed to be perpetually wrong. He decided that it could wait till they got back on the road. It was not as though Kira was going anywhere.

_Where is Kira?_ Fili looked around and noticed that every member of the company was at the door of this cave minus Ori, Nori—and Kira. _Idiot! _He chastised himself. His throat tightened a little as he feared the worst.

"Uncle, Kira is missing!" Fili yelled as he ran into the woods. Thorin and a few others looked after him bewildered. Nobody moved.

"Kili, go after your brother before he gets lost," Thorin ordered. _Those boys, _he thought bitterly to himself, _are sure to be the death of me_. Kili nodded and ran after Fili.

"Everyone else, let's move this door." The opening to the cave was blocked by a huge stone. Dwalin, Oin, Gloin, and Thorin all tried sliding the massive door but it didn't budge.

"Would this be any good?" asked Bilbo. He held up a large key. "I found it on the ground where the trolls had their fight."

"Why on earth didn't you mention that before?" Gandalf and Thorin both cried at once.

* * *

"Kira!" Fili yelled out into the trees before he could stop himself. He just realized that if she were in danger nearby, he'd just foolishly given away his position.

"Fili!" Kili had caught up to his brother and Fili slowed down to a walking speed. He refused to stop moving, though, and continued to scan the trees. "You'll get lost. I don't think she would have run off this far without a reason," Kili said.

"You're right," Fili admitted. "If she went of her own volition, she would be closer. If she did not leave willingly, though…" Fili switched directions to circle the camp instead. Kili followed.

"We would have heard a struggle," Kili reasoned. "She was injured fighting those trolls. I saw her bleeding. She probably went off to clean the wound."

"Shush!" Fili had stopped in his tracks and placed a hand out to block his brother.

"What?" Kili whispered. They both slowly crept forward. It was a matter of steps before Kili heard it, too. His eyes widened.

"I know that voice! That song!" Kili exclaimed and began to run.

"Kili, wait!" Fili ran after him. "What are you talking about?"

Before Kili could answer, the brothers saw the source of the song. A mile off from the troll camp was Kira kneeling in front of a tree, singing while she sewed several stitches in the side of her head. Her braids had been roughly pulled back to expose the wound. There was stream of dried blood down the side of her face and on the shoulder of her shirt.

Both brothers spoke at the same time:

"Kira, you're hurt!" Fili said, gravely concerned. He rushed over and kneeled at her side.

"You're the faerie!" Kili sounded overjoyed.

Fili gave Kili an annoyed look. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Kira was surprised at the interruption and stopped singing abruptly. She continued stitching the wound, though; she had just gotten used to the pain, so she didn't want to stop lest she start feeling the needle again. She looked at them with a curious expression.

"Sorry, give me just one moment," she said. She had only one verse left and she felt uneasy leaving the song half-sung. She finished her song quickly, much to Fili's confusion and Kili's delight. A moment past the last note, she tied off her last stitch, pulled one of her daggers out of her pocket, and cut the thread.

"Did you just stitch yourself?" Fili was staring at her wound with a mixture of confusion and awe. He hovered his hand near her head for a moment, as though he wanted to touch the stitches but did not want to hurt her.

Kira laughed nervously. "Sorry, I needed to finish but my head wouldn't stop bleeding. I had a needle, so I thought it best to take care of both at once." She felt the side of her face and looked down at her shirt. "Sorry, I must look worse than I am."

"Aye, you do." Kili laughed. "We'd best be heading back. You can clean up in the river." His mission completed, he turned and walked off without looking back. He didn't expect them to follow right away.

Kira and Fili stood up. She wiped the bloody needle against her already ruined shirt and tucked it back in the hem. She stepped off in the direction of the troll camp.

"Kira," Fili was still standing behind her.

"What?" She stopped and turned to face him.

He paused. _What am I doing? _He thought to himself. He didn't know why he stopped her. He had no reason to have her attention and the silence was beginning to get awkward. He quickly ran the events of the past few hours through his head and came up with an excuse.

"Your daggers," he said quickly, "Don't you have any metal ones?"

"Oh," Kira said. She pulled her stone and wooden daggers from her pockets. "I only have these that my father made. Why?"

"Well," Fili stepped to close the space between them, "They weren't very effective against those trolls. You should take these instead." He reached down the side of his right boot and produced two beautifully crafted steel daggers. He handed them to her with a warm smile.

Kira's face lit up as she took the daggers from his hand. She held them gingerly, one in each hand. "Are you sure you want to give me these? They look very special." She held one up and admired the smooth edges of the blade.

"I have plenty," Fili chuckled, "It's a small price for peace of mind." He was enjoying her look of excitement: it felt as though the very feeling could lift him and help him fly.

"Thank you!" Kira squealed. She jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him. Fili was caught off guard at her sudden extraversion. He had no time to react before she remembered herself suddenly and jumped back.

"I'm so sorry!" she said quickly, "I should not have assumed." She had never been given such a lovely gift and the impulse had made her forget her manners. Kira hoped he hadn't changed his mind on account of her poor self-control.

Seeing the look on her face, Fili couldn't help but laugh. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a huge hug. She yelped as he lifted her off the ground and put her back down.

"Don't fret, we dwarves are huggers," he said playfully as he pulled away. He smiled and looked right into her eyes. "Don't ever be afraid to hug me." She smiled back, relieved that he didn't ask her to return the gift. She felt lucky that dwarves turned out to be so okay with physical contact, not that she planned on hugging them more now.

She studied the daggers more as they walked quietly side-by side back to the rest of the company. Fili had never felt so happy or so alive.

* * *

(_Back in the troll cave_)

"You could not wish for a finer blade." Gandalf said sternly to Thorin.

Thorin gave the wizard a stony look before unsheathing the sword. He had to admit, the sword felt masterfully crafted in his hands and well balanced. He shoved it back into the scabbard and turned away to leave. After a few steps, he stopped and quickly inspected the blade one last time.

"Let's get out of this foul place," he growled. The stench was beginning to get to him. As he headed to the entrance, he spied Gloin and Bofur burying a chest of the troll's treasure to be dug up at a later date. "Gloin! Bofur! Let's go."

Upon leaving the cave, Thorin saw Kili returning from the woods, smiling and humming slightly. "Where's Fili?" he asked. Surely Kili hadn't forgotten what he was sent to do.

"What?" Kili stopped and turned to look behind him. "He was right behind me, uncle, I swear."

"You lost him?" Thorin said exasperated.

"No, I… Oh, there he is just past that far tree." Kili pointed back at the direction he had come. He flashed his uncle a grin before joining the other dwarves to look at the loot.

Thorin strapped his new sword to his back and walked toward Fili and Kira. She was studying a dagger in her hand that he recognized to be one of Fili's. She was a mess.

"Kira," Thorin said as he neared them, "You'd better go wash up before that wound get's infected. Let everyone know to meet back at the camp. We leave in an hour."

Kira looked up at Thorin and nodded. She turned to Fili, "Again, thank you," she said before sprinting off to join the others.

"Not a problem," Fili said as she ran off. Thorin watched her leave then turned to his nephew.

"I think I know what you wanted to talk about," he said crossing his arms. He wasn't sure that he liked what he saw.

"Uncle, first I wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I had not been myself, but I should not have allowed us to go that far. I am sorry."

"Aye, you should be. We have enough to worry about as a company without hurting each other so recklessly. Sit." Thorin motioned to a couple nearby rocks. They walked over and sat.

'I'm sorry. On my honor it will not happen again. I wanted to speak to you, though, concerning the reason I was not myself."

"What troubles you?" Thorin was suspicious of his nephew now.

Fili took a deep breath. "I've put a great deal of thought into the consequences of this quest over the past few days. It occurred to me that we might not live to enjoy the spoils." He took another deep breath as he let this sink in. "Uncle, I am happy to die fighting for our home. I am not happy to die leaving it to fall back into anyone's hands but our family's." He waited as Thorin considered this.

Thorin only took a moment before responding. "It is good that you are thinking seriously, but I am afraid that you are taking it too far. I do not plan to let anyone die, least of all you or Kili." He paused. "If the worst did come to pass and we all die, what of it? What are you getting at, lad?"

"I think I should consider finding someone to mother my heirs," Fili spoke plainly.

"I think you think you already have." Thorin couldn't see Fili possibly being serious about this. He was still a child in Thorin's eyes, and he'd only met the girl a few days ago.

Fili stared at his hands. "I'm not sure," he lied. "I think I have a good idea of who."

"Kira? The nomad?" Thorin sighed. "Can't you wait to find a nice dwarf woman? I'm sure your mother could set something up." He always felt more like a father than an uncle in these situations.

"I've met many, uncle. No one has ever made me so happy as she does." Kili looked slightly embarrassed to be speaking so frankly about his feelings. This was not a conversation he ever thought he would be having with his uncle, the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield.

"You've just met her."

"And yet I'm in love."

_I knew it._ "Do you know if she cares for you?"

Fili didn't know how to answer this. He thought so, but she was so quiet. How could he really know? "I don't know," he said finally. "I don't know how to go about asking without putting her off. Even if she doesn't care for me now, she might in time. I don't want to scare her off."

"Well there is no sense in scaring off our more promising burglar." Thorin thought for a second. He didn't want to dismiss Fili's feelings lest he do something stupid and scare her off, to the detriment of their quest. He also didn't want her breaking his nephew's heart, which would blunt his senses and put him at risk in a fight. He couldn't bear the idea of Fili getting killed over an unrequited crush.

"I'll tell you what," Thorin said finally. He felt had come up with a reasonable a plan. "I'll help you to determine if she returns your feelings. If she does, you may court her and I'll marry you in front of the throne of Erebor. If she does not, you must promise to put aside your worries till we've recovered our homeland. Agreed?"

Fili's face lit up. "Thank you, uncle! I swear to do what you say." Thorin had reacted better than Fili had hoped. "What shall you have me do first?"

Thorin chuckled and stood up. "Get back to your pony. We have a long road ahead of us. I'll tell you when I have thought of something."

"Aye, we do." Fili and Thorin walked back to the camp in silence. Fili was happily daydreaming of what the days to come would bring. He imagined protecting Kira from other dangerous creatures, taking blows for her that she would later heal him of. He imagined her stitching his wounds and singing to him while he stared into her golden eyes.

Thorin, on the other hand, was dreading the next few days. He had not told Fili the entirety of his plan. He had determined that Kira would not come forth with whatever feelings she may have for Fili on her own. Thorin knew this because he had come to know her temperament very well over the past two days: it was clear from her riding lesson with Dwalin that she was not in the mindset to flirt. It was also transparent from how scared she got over his nephews arguing that she did not like confrontation. No, he was going to have to manipulate her a little to get her to reveal herself. He had noticed how Kira respected him, so he planned to use this to push her a little.

His plan was to first get closer to her, then get her to open up to him. If she feels she has a confidant in him, she won't feel uncomfortable being plain with him. The tricky part was getting to that stage. He may have to turn on the charm a little, even use the profound respect that she so clearly has for him against her. A dwarf in love can be very jealous indeed, which is why he did not tell Fili his whole plan. He needed his nephew focused on the quest at hand, not on defending his territory.

As they reached the camp, Thorin saw that Kira was missing and must still be at the river. "Worry not, Fili, I'll go fetch her. Get the company ready to head out."

Fili nodded and headed off.

Thorin walked down to the river and quickly found the nomad wading in the water, still separating dried blood from her hair. This was a perfect opportunity to turn on the charm as see where it got him. What was a king who couldn't charm a simple woman?

Kira had managed to clean her face already but her hair was being difficult. She had to undo each braid to clean individually before re-braiding it again. It was more time-consuming than anything, which is why she had waded out to shoulder-deep water to save her neck the pain of leaning down between each braid.

She glanced up when she heard footsteps approaching. She did a double take when she saw who it was.

"Thorin, sir, I'm sorry. I thought I still had a few minutes." She hastened her fingers to finish that braid quickly and started wading back.

Thorin smiled. "No, we still have time. Are you having trouble?" He stripped down to his shirt and pants and took off his boots. He saw a bewildered look spread across her face and he waded out.

"No, I'm fine I-I it just takes some time." Kira was beside herself. Why was Thorin bothering with her at all? With such a mundane activity no less!

"Here, let me help you. I am no stranger to getting blood out of hair." He stood beside her, not three inches away, and reached over to her head. She froze and held her breath as he grabbed a braid and undid it. He paused when he saw her stitched up wound.

"You took a nastier fall than I thought," he said. He brushed his fingers gently against the knot on the edge of the stitching. She winced.

"It was not so bad. Head wounds just bleed more," she replied matter-of-factly. Her initial anxiety seemed to be dissipating a little.

"It's quite swollen. Did Oin stitch you up?"

"No, I did," she replied softly. She started unraveling another braid.

"And why was that?" He ran his fingers through her hair, sliding out bits of debris.

"He was busy." She tried to hide a shiver traveling down her spine.

Thorin looked at her with a sly smile. "Really?"

Kira melted. "Okay, I was busy."

"Singing to trees?" He teased.

Kira was silent. She did not know how to talk to non-nomads about her culture. Up until a few days ago, her habits were the norm. Now, her life was a novelty.

Thorin sensed this was a dead end, so he started a new topic. "Do your braids mean anything to you?"

Kira didn't understand the question. "What do you mean?"

"For dwarves, braids can mean many things. They can stand for your family, your honor…or even love and marriage." He was sure to emphasize the last phrase and watched intently for any response.

Kira didn't betray anything as far as Thorin could tell. "Interesting," she said. She said nothing else.

They each stood in silence as they each finished the braid they were on. Thorin could not believe how unsuccessful he was and getting anything out of her. He supposed it had been too much to hope that he have any success after one attempt. This is the most time he'd spent with her since first questioning her at Bilbo's. He could read her easily then. Why nothing now?

"Well, Kira, we have a long road to catch up on. We should allow time to dry before we go." He started to wade back.

"Okay," she said, "I'll only need one more moment." She was relieved to see he was leaving. She needed a moment alone.

As soon as Thorin was out of sight, Kira took a deep breath and plunged her head under water. She screamed till all the air was out of her lungs.

* * *

**Author: Thank you everyone for reading this far! It is truly humbling to see so many people interested in my story. **

**To Only Purple: *Blushes* I'm happy to hear that you like it so far! And that you like the longer chapters since this one ended up being no shorter . I've gotten a little attached to them, too, in actually writing them versus the long-term story in my head. We'll see. :)**

**To Bestbuds55: Thanks! Yeah, it certainly seems that Bilbo is irrelevant now, but he'll prove to be integral to the story yet. Keep reading. ^.^**


	5. Rivendell

**Chapter 5: Rivendell**

Thorin climbed the riverbank, slipped on his boots, and grabbed the rest of his clothing. He wrung out the ends of his long dark hair before walking back to the camp. He was replaying the last ten minutes over and over in his head, scrutinizing every detail for anything he could use. He was so preoccupied that he nearly didn't notice that nobody was ready to go. He stopped when he saw there were no ponies.

"Where are the ponies? We are losing daylight! Fili!" Thorin glared at his nephew. He had given him a specific order. Why hadn't he followed it? Thorin got dressed again in spite of his wet clothes. He knew they would dry anyway.

Fili walked closer to him as he spoke. "I'm sorry, but the ponies must have bolted. Ori and Nori have been looking for them since we left the trolls with no luck."

"Please tell me we had removed the packs before tying them up?"

Fili was quiet.

Thorin sighed. "We have a greater need for speed now. We move out! Gandalf," Thorin turned to the wizard. "Please lead the way."

The company set out again on their long path, a glum air hovering over them. Bombur especially lamented the loss of so much food. All that Nori and Ori had been able to recover from their supplies were two packs, one was mostly empty but both had enough food for one meager meal.

Gandalf led the way with Balin and Thorin following close after.

"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" Thorin asked the wizard. He was awfully curious as to where he disappeared to so often.

"To look ahead," he responded simply.

"And what brought you back in the nick of time?"

"Looking behind," Gandalf said with a sly smile.

"Exactly, but could you be more plain?" Thorin pressed.

"I went to spy on our road. It will soon become dangerous and difficult. I had not gone very far, however, when I met a couple of friends of mine from Rivendell."

Thorin scoffed.

Gandalf gave Thorin an annoyed look, but continued, "They told me that trolls had been sighted coming down from the mountains and had settled in the woods not far from the road. I immediately had a feeling that I was wanted back. Looking behind, I saw a fire in the distance and made for it. So now you know. Please be more careful next time or we shall never get anywhere!"

Thorin did not like being lectured but he took it reluctantly. You don't argue with a wizard.

The sky began to darken after several hours. Hungry and exhausted from not sleeping the night before, the company trudged on. Balin, Thorin, Dwalin, Fili, and Kira seemed to be the only ones unaffected by their fatigue and hunger. Nobody ventured to guess how the wizard felt.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Thorin stopped and scouted for a suitable place to make camp, much to everyone's relief. Once he'd located a suitable clearing in the trees, everyone slumped down where they stood and breathed a heavy sigh.

"Bofur," Thorin called out, "Be sure the food get's rationed. It may be all we have for a few days." He turned to the rocky ledge where Gandalf and Balin had gathered to discuss strategy and headed over.

"Aye, I will," Bofur agreed. He took the packs from Nori and Ori and started sorting through the remaining food. Bilbo hopped up to help him. Oh how he wished he were back in his hobbit hole now, before all these dwarves showed up and took his food!

Kira had been lost in her own thoughts for most of the day; she was too tired to really think much. Once she had sat for a moment, she realized that she could be making herself more useful. She got up and skipped off to where Thorin was standing with Balin.

"Do you have anything against plants?" she asked him. She realized that she could gather some vegetables and berries, if there were any, to add to their food store. She just didn't want to put forth the effort if dwarves didn't eat them. She had noticed so far that they seemed to favor meat, bread, and potatoes.

Thorin looked at her with a confused look. "No, why?"

"I can look nearby to see if there is anything edible nearby. Do dwarves eat plants?" She hoped that she didn't sound too rude. She didn't know how else to ask the question.

He smiled. "If we are hungry enough, we'll eat anything. It wouldn't hurt to try," he paused for a moment, "Take Fili and Kili with you. They could stand to learn something."

She grinned, happy that he thought she was being helpful. "As you wish," she said and sprinted over to where the brothers had splayed out on the ground, looking half-dead. They had been too tired to even find a soft spot of grass before they fell asleep.

Kira poked Fili with her foot. He twitched a little and blinked open an eyelid. When he saw who was standing over him, he sat up with a jolt and rubbed his face.

"I'm awake," he said, to no one in particular.

"Sorry, Fili. I would not have woken you," said Kira, "But Thorin though it would be good to bring you and Kili with me to forage for other food nearby."

"Of course!" he said, standing up and kicking his brother in the leg. "Can't have you out alone at night. Kili! We've got a mission." When Kili didn't move, he kicked him again.

"Fili, I swear, you kick me again I'll kick you right in your…ow!" Kili had grumbled but was cut off by a third sharp kick in his shin. He sat up straight, "Okay, what are we doing?"

"Gathering vegetables to add to our food stock," Kira replied.

"I'm not a fan of vegetables," Kili said, hardly opening his eyes, "I'll probably pick the wrong ones. Tell you what, leave me here so I don't poison anyone, okay? Okay." And with that, he plopped back a fell right back to sleep.

Fili chuckled. "Guess it's just you and me, love." He said with a smile.

"Okay," Kira said not paying attention. She was eager to get started collecting anything that would please Thorin. It was like she had been given a shot of adrenaline straight to her heart. "Let's start there!" She ran off into the woods with Fili not far behind.

Thorin saw this out of the corner of his eye. He smiled to himself. He knew those boys much too well.

Gandalf spoke gruffly, smoking his pipe, "We must head to the hidden valley of Rivendell and refresh ourselves."

Thorin gave him a hard look.

"We don't have much choice now, laddie," Balin reasoned, "We have no supplies."

"And Lord Elrond would be able to shed some light on those runes on the map." Gandalf added.

"What reason would the elves have to help us? Surely they will not support our quest," Thorin spat. He couldn't stand the idea of showing up to a house of elves to ask for help of any kind. He had more pride than that.

"Save me from the stubbornness of dwarves," Gandalf huffed and took another long drag from him pipe, "We won't be getting very far at all without any food. Even if we do make it to the mountain, we won't be able to open the door!"

"He's right," Balin said, "These aren't the same elves who failed to come to our aid when we asked, Thorin." He gave him a pleading look.

"They left us to die all the same." Thorin was not budging. He'd rather starve.

* * *

Kira's eyes were glued to the greenery. The moon was only half- full, but it shone brightly enough for her to see the foliage well. Her mind was scanning through every edible plant she had ever seen, carefully filtering out any that were poisonous or caused hallucinations. Much to her dismay, most of these plants were unfamiliar to her. She ripped a leaf off of a bush that looked somewhat familiar and took a small bite. A sharp, bitter taste filled her mouth and she spat it out with disgust. Her tongue went numb where the juice of the leaf had touched her.

"Any luck, yet?" Fili was doing his best to stay upbeat, but they had been looking for a while now with no luck. Again, she didn't answer. She was so wrapped up in her task that she had completely ignored his last attempt to make conversation, too. He was beginning to get bored just staring at trees.

"Sorry, what?" Kira looked up. She hadn't really paid attention to what he'd said, but had registered somewhere in the back of her mind that he had spoken twice now.

Fili stared into her eyes, "I can't wait anymore," he said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a deep and passionate kiss. After a moment of shock, Kira started to kiss him back, wrapping her arms around his neck, the fingers of her right hand entwined in his hair. He placed his hand on the small of her back as she arched her spine, pressing her hips close to him. He pulled her head back to expose her soft neck and kissed along her collarbone as she moaned in his ear…

"Fili? You said something?" She picked up a stick and poked his arm with it. Kira wondered if maybe she should have just let him go back to sleep instead of dragging him out this far. He was standing there, arms crossed, staring off ahead without blinking.

He snapped back to reality.

"Sorry, soft, sorry," he cleared his throat and blinked to readjust his eyes. "You found something?"

Kira gave small laugh. "You are clearly tired. Go back. I won't be much longer." She didn't want to give up just now, but she felt guilty making him suffer with her.

"No, I won't leave you here alone. Let's both go back and try again tomorrow. There will be more light then."

"Okay," Kira said a little disappointed. They both turned and walked back. Fili was extra careful to stay at arms-length; he was still settling down from his vivid daydream. He didn't fully trust his self-control just yet.

They hadn't walked for more than a few minutes when Kira froze in her tracks.

_Snap, snap, crunch…_ Something very large was following them. Purely from instinct, she ran and jumped against a nearby tree, using the trunk as a springboard, which enabled her to reach a branch about eight feet up. As she gripped the branch, she remembered Fili still on the ground.

Kira wrapped her legs around the branch and leaned down. "Fili! Grab my hands," she whispered as loudly as she dared. Without a word, he grabbed her arms and they swung him up.

They climbed up another branch and another until they were at least 20 feet in the air. They held their breath as they witnessed a huge creature slink out of the shadows. It had jaws bigger than any bear she'd ever seen and paws like a gargantuan wolf. It sniffed at the ground under them and shifted its footing; it now faced the camp.

"We have to warn the others," Fili said in a hushed voice, "It will head straight for the camp." He had drawn his sword and had it ready at his side. He was crouched on the branch, read to jump on the creature.

"What are we supposed to do?" Kira was frightened. Was there any creature here that was gentle or familiar?

"On my count," Fili oriented himself to land on the creature's head. Kira nodded and drew her daggers. She would aim for its back.

Fili held up three fingers. Three…two...one… They leapt from the branch and landed with a dull thud on the massive warg. It barked and screamed as it shook and thrashed trying to knock them off. Fili rolled off and parried its jaws as Kira tried to stab anywhere on the warg that could incapacitate it. She could hear her heart pounding in her head and her stomach was a mess of butterflies. Its fur was too thick, even for her new daggers. She held on for dear life as she tried to think of anything else she could do when Fili finally delivered one last powerful blow to its head, slicing its throat and killing it at last.

Kira wanted to vomit, but she hardly had time to stand before Fili grabbed her hand and they ran back to the camp.

"There will be more. We have to get everyone out," he said. Once the camp was in sight, Fili started yelling, "Wargs! Up, up, we're under attack!" Thorin and Nori, who had still been awake, grabbed their weapons. Nori stamped out the fire and started helping the others get to their feet.

"What happened?" Thorin asked, drawing his sword.

"We were followed," Kira said. He face was pale and her palms were cold and clammy.

"How many?" he shouted. Thorin was debating whether their company to handle them or not.

As if on cue, a chorus of howls erupted from the woods. The pack how found their slain member.

"Run!" Gandalf yelled.

No one had to be told twice. They all grab their few belongings and off after the wizard they ran. Thorin, Fili, Dwalin, and Kili were especially alert to anything around the party as they ran, their weapons drawn and ready. Everyone else was more concerned with running. Kira was focused entirely on calming herself down. Well, as much as she could be while running from giant scary beasts.

The company had reached a rocky terrain when the wargs finally caught up with them. The beasts knew the land much better than they did, which, added to the cover of night, gave them a clear advantage.

"Close ranks! Stand your ground!" Thorin yelled. Everyone had their weapons out, dreading what was coming as the giant wargs crept closer to their prey. Kili was firing arrows almost nonstop, but they proved to not be very effective. The wizard was nowhere to be seen.

"This way you fools!" they heard Gandalf yell, seemingly from nowhere. Everyone turned to look, and a warg lunged forward in the same instant.

Thorin stabbed at its head and Dwalin hacked at its neck till it was down for good. Gandalf had popped up from behind a rock.

"Come on, move!" Thorin yelled. "Get in, all of you!" He placed himself between the next warg and the company, but the pack was focused on only two scents: Kira and Fili, the latter of whom was still fending one off.

Seeing their prey getting away, they all lunged forward at once, clawing and biting the axes and swords separating them from their prey. They got wilder with each dwarf that jumped down.

Nearly everyone had jumped down the crevasse. Left on the surface was Dwalin, Thorin, and Fili. Fili slid down, narrowly missing massive jaws closing down on him. With one last strike, Dwalin jumped, closely followed by Thorin. They had narrowly escaped.

They breathed a sigh of relief.

"Should we follow it?" Bilbo asked. Without answering, Gandalf starting walking, following the path in the crevasse.

"We have no choice," Thorin responded. They all followed the wizard. Thorin was relieved to be saved from the wargs, but he did not trust this conveniently located path.

Kira was shaking. She clutched her stomach and made sure to walk several paces behind Bofur, the last dwarf in line. She was no longer nauseated but her experience had shaken her to her core. She could hear the warg yelping and shrieking and could feel it spasm in pain. The images played over and over again in her mind.

She felt like a coward. Weak. She had no trouble with the idea of fighting a troll, but she lost it with a warg? No beast is worth more than another. She tried to rationalize what happened: it would have killed Fili and attacked the camp. Who knows what devastation it could have caused had they not been there to kill it.

She still couldn't shake the feeling that she was in the wrong. With the trolls, they were saving Bilbo. The warg had not attacked first; they had ambushed it. Yes, the pack attacked them, but didn't they do so after finding their fallen brother? Would they still have attacked under different circumstances?

She did not know. For the first time since she had left home, Kira was truly afraid. The world was full of some many more horrors than she could have prepared herself for. She felt a wave of overwhelming nostalgia as she thought of home. She missed her mother. How mundane her former life seemed after this past week! The worst creatures they had to worry about were frightened, lost travelers and they were few and far between. She would have to venture toward the mountains to see anything remotely dangerous.

She hadn't thought of home till now. She felt a warm, uplifting sensation as she thought of gathering berries, fruit, and mushrooms with her mother. She remembered the giddy excitement she'd felt when her father tried to teach her to fish. She had eventually given up, but the memories were some of the fondest she'd had. She felt guilty thinking of how worried her mother might be right now. Kira had no way of knowing if she'd had any lucid moments since Kira left.

She was feeling much better as they reached an opening in the rock. They were on a carved path on the side of a cliff that led down to a lush green valley. Kira could hear Thorin stop to talk to Gandalf further down.

"This was your plan all along," he accused, "to seek refuge with our enemy."

"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield. The only ill will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself." Gandalf was firm in spite of the deathly look Thorin gave him.

Everyone else was looking at the valley in awe, silently or, in the case of Bilbo, not so silently. He was so pleased that he was finally going to meet the elves.

Begrudgingly, the company continued to follow the wizard onward to the Last Homely House in the hidden valley of Rivendell. They arrived the find the doors flung open wide and the master of the house, Lord Elrond, outside to greet them. Gandalf had sent word with the friends he'd run into previously for Elrond to expect them.

The company was less than polite. They had endured eighty hours of no sleep, no food, and too much travel by this point. Many were running on pure adrenaline. Thorin and Gandalf were the only one's who seemed functional at all. The wizard greeted Elrond warmly in some kind of elvish (Sindarin, as it turned out), and they spoke for some time. Thorin said nothing, but remained on his guard.

Had Kira been more alert, she would have understood bits and pieces of the conversation, but the pounding in her head had returned with a vengeance. The dwarves stared and Gandalf and Elrond for any sign of what they were talking about. Bilbo was still in awe in spite of his exhaustion.

Elrond turned to Thorin. "Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain. _Nartho i noer, toltho i viruvor. Boe i annam vann a nethail vin_." Thorin's anger only grew.

"What is he saying? Is he offering us insult?" Gloin yelled angrily. He had gotten fed up with waiting.

"No, master Gloin, he is offering you food," Gandalf clarified.

The dwarves talked amongst themselves for a bit. Kira would have waited till she was bidden to come forth, but the pounding… She stepped forward to Lord Elrond, her face white as a sheet and her eyelids drooping.

"_Ni 'lassui_," she said and collapsed. As she hit the ground, the stitches on her wound burst, pus and blood spilling out on the ground next to her. Everyone looked at her curled up on the ground, shocked. Elrond grimaced in disgust, not knowing what to do with this dirty creature. Had he witnessed this elsewhere, on the battlefield perhaps, he would not have blinked, but this was his home and nothing dirty stained his home.

Fili had moved next to her but did not really know what to do. He was exhausted and not thinking clearly.

"Oh, for goodness sake," Thorin walked over. "Let's just stand and stare," he muttered sarcastically. He easily picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She made no reaction. "Do you have and infirmary?" Thorin asked the master of the house.

"Yes, in a manner of speaking," Elrond said. He collected himself. "Follow me." He led Thorin to a room with large windows and a bed. Thorin placed her down carefully, turning her head so the wound showed. He smiled as he thought of the disgust on Elrond's face. He would treasure that memory during their stay in the elf's home.

"I'll send someone in shortly to treat her." With that Elrond left, closing the door behind him. He showed the rest of the dwarves and Bilbo to several beds where they each collapsed into deep sleep.

Thorin remained in the room with Kira. She had not stirred from where he'd placed her. He would have thought that she was dead if she hadn't been breathing ever so slightly. His feet were sore, but there were no chairs in the room; he sat at the foot of her bed, facing the door. He would not leave an unconscious member of his company at the mercy of elves.

Thorin had truly been alert and awake for 80 hours straight. While the rest of the company had stolen hours of sleep here and there, Thorin had remained awake and on edge to watch over them as they slept.

Sitting there on that gloriously comfortable bed, Thorin didn't notice as the last remnants of his energy finally extinguished and he fell asleep.

* * *

**Author: Thank you everyone for reading! It really means a lot to me that you have enjoyed my writing :) Feel free to ask if you ever have questions, btw.**

**I wanted to make a couple notes about this chapter:**

**1.) ****_Ni 'lassui _****is meant as a thank you in this context. If I remember correctly, it literally translates as "I am glad" or something like that.**

**2.) Kira's people are a mixture of many races that have ended up in the forests along the coast. Their language is at that stage in development where it is still a rough mixture of a handful of common languages (a pidgin language) and hasn't morphed into it's own just yet. Thus far, it includes mostly Westron, bits of Khuzdul (makes sense with proximity of the mountains), and bits of Sindarin(makes sense with the influence of Westron).**


	6. Within The Last Homely House

**Chapter 6: Within The Walls of The Last Homely House**

Kira woke up. She felt so much better now that she'd had some quality sleep. She was in a huge, beautiful bed in a room with large windows. Sunlight bathed the room in a soft glow. She touched her head carefully. The elves had spread some kind of herbal mixture on it, recently, too, since it was still moist. The swelling had gone down considerably. They must have included some kind painkiller with the mixture, she realized, since the sun was at the 11 o'clock position, well past morning, and she wasn't panicking. She sniffed her fingers that had touched the ointment: these were no herbs that she could identify.

She sat up feeling more relaxed than she'd ever had in all her life. She felt a soft shake in the mattress as Thorin stirred at the end of the bed. She watched him settle back in. She guessed from the way he was laying along the foot of the bed that he must have been sitting on the end and slumped back when he fell asleep. He looked so peaceful and serene. It occurred to her that she had never seen him sleep till now, nor had she ever been so relaxed in his presence.

_These must be strong herbs, _she thought.

She leaned forward and slid her legs back so she was lying on her stomach. She brushed aside some stray hairs from his face, letting her fingertips linger a little on his right temple. His face twitched ever so slightly at her touch. She smiled down at him.

If she could watch him sleep for the rest of her life, she would die happily, indeed. _But he does not care for me that way, _she thought to herself sadly, _and I don't think he ever will._ As much as she did not want to admit it, Thorin would never be able to see her through all his ghosts. He was too haunted to see her as anything more than a means to an end.

Softly, she sang him a melancholic song as she gently stroked his hair. She felt a rush of catharsis; she hadn't the fortitude till now to really accept her feelings, or his.

Surprisingly, he did not wake.

Once she'd finished her song with a soft decrescendo, she stood up to leave. As she walked quietly out of the room, she realized that she was wearing different clothes. After closing the door behind her, she looked down and inspected herself. Someone had changed her shirt for a fresh one; this one was made of a thicker fabric with ornamental stitching along every edge. Over this white shirt was a brown tunic with a brown cloth belt tied around her waist. The tunic had probably fit as a vest to an elf or human, but on her it extended halfway down her thighs. Her pants were the same black ones that she'd always had, to her relief. Her bare feet reminded her that she hadn't seen her boots by the bed.

She patted her pockets and realized that all her daggers were missed. A knot formed in her stomach and she quickly walked down the hallway to find someone that she knew. Each room was locked or empty. Finally, at the end of the hall she peeked into the last room and spied Kili, Fili, and Ori lying each on a cot in small room with one window. Ori's eyes were still closed as he quietly slept. Kili was snoring noisily; Fili's cot was very close to his brother's but he was wide-awake, staring at the ceiling.

"Fili," Kira whispered. He glanced at the doorway and smiled. Noiselessly, he sat up and slipped on his boots. He didn't have his many layers on, just his shirt and pants. _At least he got to keep his shoes, _Kira thought bitterly. She didn't like her feet being unprotected.

"Kira," he whispered into her ear as they hugged. They pulled away. "I'm glad to see you are okay. You had me worried there."

"I'm fine," she said. She touched her head again as if to double-check that the wound was nearly healed. "I think I was more tired than injured. Do you know where they put my things?"

"No," Fili replied, "but I think I know who does."

* * *

_"DRAGON!" Thorin yelled at the top of his lungs. He grabbed Balin and pulled him behind the nearest pillar just before a hot burst of flame engulfed the watch post. He held him, shaking, till the fire was gone. They both ran for the stairs. People were screaming and running about. Thorin reached the gate to see people stampeding out. _

_Outside people were crying. The stench of burning flesh and hair filled the smoke-saturated air. The ash burned his throat as he ran back to the main gate. He did not know where the dragon was, but he did not stop running. Fires dotted the horizon and fresh waves of screaming could be heard from all directions. _

_Thorin ran through the gate right as the dragon passed back overhead. He shoved his way through people trying to get out. He had to find Dis and Frerin. His mind was frantic and wrought with grief but he could not stop._

_Thorin rounded a corner and stepped off into a sea of gold coins. He sank right into the pile, thrashing around and screaming for his father. No matter how hard he fought to keep at the surface, the gold buried him over and over till he could fight back no more._

_He reached out in one last attempt to keep from being smothered and felt a hand pull him up and out of the sea of coins. He slides out into the light to see Kira staring down at him. He doesn't understand. He yells for her, but she drifts further and further away. Next, the whole room is lit ablaze and he hears his family scream in agony—_

* * *

Thorin woke up with a start and sat up. He was breathing heavily. He remembered where he was, at last, and stood up in a panic. He'd not meant to fall asleep.

_Kira, _he remembered. She was here before. He scanned the wide room but saw no sign of her. The sheets were clean, like she hadn't been there at all.

"Those damned elves," he snarled. Thorin walked out in search of his company. He still had all of his belongings on his person since the elves hadn't dared to touch him in his sleep.

It was late in the day; the sun was already starting to set on the horizon. He wandered through the halls for what felt like an hour before he ran into an elf. Annoyed, he asked, "Where is my company?"

"That way," the elf responded in a controlled voice, pointing to the gardens. The elf was doing his best to hide his disgust.

Thorin did not thank him as he walked to where the elf had pointed, ever vigilant of his surroundings.

He passed under an arch that led to a stone path. This stone path wound through a beautiful garden with a large fountain in the middle. Just past the stone arch, not twenty feet away, was Kira sitting on a small marble bench, facing away from the large fountain off in the distance. Her long hair was loose, spilling down over her shoulders and down her back. She was sewing something very carefully.

Thorin was relieved to see that she was feeling much better. He could see that the color had returned to her skin and the life had returned to her eyes. He walked to her and smiled. She looked up when she heard his footsteps and smiled back. He joined her sitting on the bench.

"You look much better," she said looking back down at her sewing.

"As do you," he responded. "Have you seen the others?"

Kira blushed ever so slightly. "Do you not hear them?" She tilted her head to the fountain behind them. "They're swimming."

Thorin stood up and turned around. He laughed when he saw his company in and about the fountain, laughing and frolicking as naked as the day they were born.

"I see why you haven't joined them," he said as he sat back down. He smiled at how affronted the elves must be right now.

"Ha," she said, "I had discovered the fountain first. They were the ones who joined me. I left when clothes started coming off."

"As any honorable maiden would," Thorin said knowingly. He looked down at her sewing. "What are you making?"

"Boots," she replied, "They took mine and now nobody will give me any new ones."

_Damned elves,_ he thought. "I'm surprised they gave you fabric and not shoes."

"They didn't," she said with a sly grin. "I took his curtains. I figured it was a fair trade."

Thorin laughed another throaty chuckle. "Are you sure you don't have any dwarf blood in you, Kira?" He was thoroughly amused at how much she'd offended the elves thus far.

"Who knows," she said as she looked back down at her work. She was almost done with her second shoe. She flexed her fingers; they had gotten a little stiff. She set the fabric down to give her hands a break. She looked over to Thorin, who was staring at her long hair.

He saw that she'd caught him staring, so he told her what had gone through his mind, "Do you ever think of cutting your hair? Forgive me, but it seems like a burden to care for it on a long journey."

Kira always enjoyed how polite he was; she enjoyed it even more so now that she wasn't such a bundle of nerves. His manners were better now, too, since he was actually in a good mood. She ran a hand through her hair as she considered his question. "To be honest, I hadn't thought of it. Back home, we don't cut our hair till we're cut from our parents, so, not till we're married." She paused to stare at a lock of hair in her hands. "I suppose it is silly now, since I'm not at home and not with my mother." She gathered her hair in her hands and pulled it off to one side so that it only fell down her left shoulder.

"There is nothing wrong with holding onto your home," he said, "I think I know better than most how hard it is to lose it."

She brushed her fingers through her hair without saying anything. Thorin seemed to get a little lost in his own thoughts, too: he leaned back and pulled out the map.

"Are you going to ask Elrond's help?" she asked, leaning a little in his direction to peek at the map in his hands. She hadn't seen it up close yet.

He scoffed. "As much as I hate to, we do not have much choice. Either way, these elves aren't stopping us from reclaiming my home." With that he stood up, folded the map, placed it in his vest pocket, and turned to walk away. He stopped himself, though. He was going to go find Gandalf, but had just remembered his promise to Fili. He sat back down. He had been so wrapped up in keeping everyone alive that he'd made no progress in helping his nephew. For a moment, he entertained the idea that maybe Fili had forgotten, too. He dismissed the notion, though. He knew better, and he had a good opportunity now for progress.

Kira didn't pay much attention to what Thorin did after he put the map away. She had started concentrating on re-braiding her hair now that it was dry. She was enjoying her new, relaxed version of herself. She had thought that the medicine would have worn off by now.

"Kira," Thorin said. He needed to get her talking again, but wasn't completely sure how.

"Hmm?" She looked over to him, her fingers still manipulating sections of hair at the top of her head.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course," she said. Any other day she probably would have panicked at wonderful, handsome Thorin asking her questions, but not today.

"Why did you leave Eryn Vorn, the forest by the ocean?" He'd figured that it wouldn't hurt to check into her past, just in case she did care for Fili.

She dropped her hands down to her lap and stared at her bare feet.

"Do you not want to say?" He didn't know any other way to interpret her silence.

"No," she started, "I was thinking of a simple way to give you a complicated answer."

"I think I can follow you." His interest was piqued.

Kira didn't want to lie. She had gotten so much closer to Thorin in these past two days and was beginning to consider him as a friend.

"I'm not sure where to start," she admitted. She looked at him, into those beautiful blue eyes. He didn't say anything, so she looked back down at her feet. "My mother had abandoned me again."

She realized how that must have sounded as soon as the words had passed her lips. She continued before he could say anything, "She has gotten very ill since my father disappeared. Ill in her mind, that is, not her body. She sees things that aren't there, hears voices that no one else can hear. These terrors had always come to her in short spells, back when my father was there to comfort her. Once he disappeared, though, the spells got much worse. It scared everyone too much to see her in her fits, so soon the other families left us to fend for ourselves." She took a deep breath. "A few years ago, my mother developed a habit of drugging me and leaving me in the forest alone. It wasn't her fault. She heard voices telling her that I was a daemon sent to deliver her to hell."

Kira pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on one knee. Her anxiety was slowing returning as she thought of those dark days. She pushed it back down. "I always found her again," she continued, "She would always apologize and hold me close. I had been too young the first few times to know any better than to forgive her and carry on like there was nothing wrong. She got a little better recently; last spring, we'd gone a full year without her having an episode." She gulped and cleared her throat. It felt like it was tightening. "But then last week she had done it again. I am old enough now to fend for myself, so I decided to follow the river to look for a new life instead of looking for my mother."

There was more she could say, but Kira didn't want to talk about it anymore. She regretted letting Thorin ask her a question. She looked over to him for any sort of reaction, but he was looking down at his hands in his lap. _I should have just lied, _she thought to herself, _too late now_. They were both quiet.

She broke the silence. "I'm sorry if I've made you feel awkward."

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I should be saying that to you," he put a hand on her arm to comfort her, or so he hoped. He regretted ever making his promise to Fili. He wanted to leave this awkward conversation, but that would be rude. He sighed. "Thank you for being honest, Kira." What else could he say? He gave her arm a gentle squeeze before removing his hand.

"You're welcome." She straightened her back as she placed her feet back down on the ground. She reached back up to her hair and started braiding again.

Off in the distance, at the fountain, the dwarves were beginning to settle down, tired from all their play. Night had fallen fast and it was getting cold. Fili had already gotten dressed again, still wet, and was heading toward the bench where Kira and Thorin were sitting in their awkward silence. His clothing clung to him haphazardly as he walked.

As soon as Thorin spotted Fili approaching, he saw his opportunity to leave. "I'll leave you to finish you hair in peace," he said to Kira. Without letting her respond, he stood up and left in search of the wizard. It wasn't long before he found Gandalf (and Bilbo) looking for him; he was anxious to have Elrond look at Thorin's map.

As Fili approached the bench, he saw his uncle quickly get up and leave. He smiled at this: he had begun to wonder if Thorin had forgotten his promise.

"Mind if I join you," he said to Kira as he sat down. She didn't make eye contact. She could feel a warmth rising in her face as she was confronted with an embarrassing memory from earlier that afternoon.

"Not at all," she said to the floor. He laughed at the look on her face. He thought her shyness was adorable.

"Come on, Kira, no need to be shy," he teased. "I was only joking." Fili had been the first one to jump into the fountain after her and strip down; it was a crude attempt to break her out of her shell.

She laughed nervously and stole a glance at him. He looked at her with as much charm as he could muster. She finally smiled back at him. She hadn't been offended by his joke, just embarrassed. She'd never seen anyone, other than herself, naked before. She still hadn't: as soon as he'd taken off his shirt she'd averted her eyes, and she'd jumped out of the fountain to ran away as soon as she saw more dwarves coming. Fili would have followed her, but Kili had cannonballed right in front of him, soaking him, and starting a water fight.

"I know," she said, "Don't worry, you didn't offend me." She tucked the end of one braid into the base of a new one and kept braiding.

"I can if you'd like," Fili grinned and motioned like he was going to take off his pants again. Without thinking, she grabbed his hand to stop him.

"No, no, I'm fine," she stammered. She was holding his hands down on his lap. They both stared at each other, then laughed as they pulled apart.

"How are the boots coming?" he asked while reaching across her to pick up the bundle of fabric.

"Good," she responded, her hands back in her hair, " I was just giving my fingers a break from the thick cloth."

"Glad to hear it." He set it back down where he found it.

Kira had caught sight of the silver clasps on the ends if Fili's braids again as he leaned across her. She felt an impulse to grab one and look at it, but she stopped herself from being rude.

"Fili? Can I ask you something?" She said once he'd straightened up again. She tied off the braid she was on.

"Anything, love."

"Can I touch your hair?"

He hadn't expected that. "Well, okay, if that's what yer into."

She laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, the beads looked so pretty, but Thorin said that braids are special to you dwarves, so I thought I'd ask first."

He chuckled. "Sounds like Thorin." He leaned his face in closer to her and grabbed the end of a braid from the side of his face. He handed her the clasp. "They aren't really that special, not anymore. The older ones tend to hold on to the old stuff, though."

She studied the silver clasp in her hand. It was so pretty. She marveled at the thought that someone was so skilled to make such a detailed, small ornament. She handed it back.

"It's very pretty," she remarked.

"That's why I wear them," he chuckled. She gave a small chuckle in response.

His stomach growled. Fili stood up and faced Kira, holding his hand out to her, palm up.

"Let us find some dinner, if you would be so kind as to join me, milady." He sounded more like Thorin, she thought, as he said this. It made her heart skipped a beat.

"My pleasure," she said as she took his hand, grabbing her half-done boot as she stood up.

* * *

Elsewhere in the halls of the Last Homely House, an annoyed but satisfied Thorin Oakenshield left the company of Gandalf and Elrond behind with Balin and Bilbo following after him. After a tedious dinner with their host, Thorin had begrudgingly given the elf his map. With much prodding from the wizard, Elrond had told them exactly what he needed to know. He didn't stay any longer than he had to.

"Enough pomp and circumstance," he said to Balin and Bilbo behind him. "We have what we came for."

They'd reached the rest of the company by now, all of whom were enjoying a private feast of the best that Elrond's house could offer them at this hour.

Well, the best that they could find on their own. The elves wanted nothing to do with them anymore.

The party calmed down when Thorin entered the room. They were all eager to hear if Elrond had cooperated.

"What news from our host?" Dwalin asked as he rose. "Did he read the runes?"

"Aye, he did," Thorin responded with a winning smile. They all cheered. Some dwarves pounded their drinks in celebration.

"We have until the last light of Durin's Day to find the door," Balin explained, "There is still time, but we have much land to cover." He looked to Thorin.

"Eat up, lads. We move out at dawn. Bombur, Bofur, and Bifur, make sure we have enough food packed for the next few weeks. Nori and Dori, check on what other supplies we have left and take whatever else we need. And Bilbo," he turned to the hobbit that was still standing behind him, "Do you remember where you saw the elves keep their weapons?"

"I-I do, yes," Bilbo responded. Part of him didn't want to continue on with the company; he wanted to stay in Rivendell with the elves. Fortunately for everyone, though, the Tookish side of him won out again. As quietly as he could, Bilbo led Thorin and Balin to Elrond's armory.

* * *

**Author: Happy (belated) New Year! Thank you all for reading this far! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**To Reaverattack: Thanks! I've been doing my best to keep everyone in character. I am happy to hear you think I've been effective! And Fili... At least he got a win, sort of, in this chapter. Keep reading. :)**

**To Mittens95: Haha, I'm glad you are enjoying the triangle. And any chance to work in a wet sexy dwarf is one I will happily take. ;)**

**Thanks a bunch to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed, and/or stayed interested enough to click to the next chapter! **

**And thank you, Eddie, now that I know you are subscribed. You are my muse. *hearts***


	7. The Mountain Path

**Chapter 7: The Mountain Path**

Onwards and upwards the company trudged, leaving the Last Homely House far behind. There were many paths that led up into the mountains and many over them, but most of the passages were cheats and deceptions or crawling with evil things and dreadful dangers. Luckily, Balin was familiar enough with the right paths and led the company up. Gandalf had instructed them to meet him at the top of the mountain pass, giving him time to take care of some pressing matters in Rivendell.

They had replenished their weaponry with finely crafted bows, arrows, knives, daggers, and swords stolen from Elrond's house. Even Kira had taken a short sword in addition to the daggers that Fili had recovered for her.

The first day was not so bad. It was midsummer, so the weather was pleasant for walking. Though the valley seemed to never end, the group sang merry tunes and kept their spirits up. The mood had reminded Bilbo of his walking holidays in the Shire. Kira, too, was reminded of the warmth of home as she walked on in her newly sewn cloth boots.

The second and third days had gotten much darker. The wind chill had dropped significantly and the skies darkened. They scarcely spoke above a whisper: the echoes were uncanny and the silence seemed to dislike being broken.

By the fourth day up the never-ending mountain, the temperature had plummeted and the rain and wind chilled them to the bone. The dwarves seemed to be better prepared for these conditions with their many layers to keep them dry and their furs to keep them warm. Even Ori, who was more lightly dressed than the others, seemed to be unaffected by the conditions as compared to Bilbo and Kira. These two felt the worst of the bitter cold. They each huddled into their cloaks, shaking profoundly with each step.

Dwalin had given the hobbit one of his spare cloaks, and Oin had a pair of gloves to spare that he lent to Kira. She did not understand how Bilbo endured the elements without any shoes; she could hardly feel her toes in spite of the thick cloth of her boots. Kili and Fili took turns trying to warm Kira by rubbing on her arms as they walked, but the mountain path grew narrower and more treacherous as they went on, forcing them to stop. The howling winds and pouring rain only got stronger.

When the company thought that conditions could not get any worse, boulders started falling and cracking against the side of the mountain. The ones that hit right overhead were especially frightening. Lightning flashed across the valley, illuminating an awe-inspiring and terrifying scene: huge stone giants tossing boulders at each other in some kind of violent game.

"The legends are true," Bofur screamed in awe, "Giants! Stone Giants!"

"Run!" Thorin shouted. The company rushed forward as another boulder was hurled overhead. A cascade of rocks came down, chipping away at their path. They ducked as they were pelted by the falling stones, and kept running as well as they could.

A giant reached down and ripped chunk of rock from the mountainside just below them and hurled it at the head of another giant. The giant toppled into the adjacent mountain, causing a rockslide into the valley below.

"If we don't get blown off, or drowned, or struck by lightning, we shall be picked off by some giant and kicked sky high!" Thorin yelled in frustration, barely audible over the torrent of winds.

The giants were upon them now. One smashed right into the company, scattering them in either direction and leaving a crater where they once were standing. Balin, Dwalin, Thorin, Nori, Ori, Bilbo, and Bofur had run forward while the rest of the company, Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bombur, Dori, Oin, Gloin, and Kira, had no choice but to run back. There was much screaming across the gap, as they tried desperately to reunite.

Their chance came as one giant plowed straight into the other, slamming him into the mountainside. The latter half of the company ran as quickly as they could across their temporary path, barely making it across before the stone titan stood up again, throwing a boulder across to the other. The company ran altogether in single file as quickly as they could manage without slipping.

They needed to put as much space in between them and the giants as possible. Once they'd reached a ledge wide enough for them to circle together, they stopped to assess the situation.

"We need to find a shelter to wait out this storm," Thorin yelled over the howling wind, "Fili, Kili – go scout ahead."

The brothers didn't say anything as they walked off down the path and disappeared into the darkness.

Bilbo had seemed to find his warmth by now, but Kira was still shaking uncontrollably. She had sat down on top of her pack and huddled into a ball in a desperate attempt to conserve her diminishing body heat.

"Kira? Kira, are you alright?" He asked her. His voice seemed to get lost on the wind. She didn't answer, so he crouched down next to her and started rubbing her arms through her cloak, trying to warm the blood in her arms. It was not much help. Tucked down in her cloak, Kira's lips were turning blue.

Bilbo didn't know if she couldn't ask for help or if she wouldn't, but nobody was paying attention to her freezing right in front of them. He hugged her and rubbed her shoulders again. When it was clear that his efforts were no use, Bilbo finally yelled for Thorin.

Thorin walked over and crouched down next to the hobbit and the huddled ball of a nomad. As he lowered, he immediately saw what was wrong. Before Bilbo could even explain the situation, Thorin had removed his fur-lined coat, his outermost layer, and wrapped it around her. The shaking didn't stop.

Thorin gave Bilbo a pained expression. They arranged themselves on either side of her and sandwiched her in their arms. She stopped shaking entirely.

"Kira, are you with us?" Thorin said into her ear. No response. He repeated himself more loudly.

When she didn't answer, Thorin uncovered her face and lifted her chin. His grimaced as he felt her stiff face and saw her bluish-purple lips. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach: she was much further gone than he'd thought. They were definitely losing her.

Thorin changed tactics. He pulled off his gloves and cradled her head against his chest, pulling her away from Bilbo. He could feel the warmth from his hands slowly creep across her cheek. Unfortunately, the icy rain was quickly extinguishing the little warmth he could giver her from his hands. It wasn't enough.

Thorin put his gloves back on, undid his belt, and opened his tunic. He pulled Kira close to him and wrapped the clothing around her as well as he could, combining it with the coat he'd already wrapped around her to make a cocoon of his body warmth. He felt the shock of her frozen face against his warm, newly exposed skin. He gritted his teeth and pushed her face fully into the curve of his neck. Upon feeling how she was slowly warming now, he pulled her arms under his shirt, shocking his warm stomach and back. Her frozen hands sent a shiver down his spine. Thorin wrapped his arms around the bundle of clothes around her and held her as closely as he could.

Kira twitched, much to Thorin's relief. There is life in her yet!

Thankfully, Fili and Kili had finally returned, rushing down the path as quickly as they dared. Thorin slid her arms out from under his shirt, mail, and tunic, hoping Fili hadn't seen him, and then picked the bundle of Kira and clothing in his lap.

'This way!" Kili yelled and scampered off down the path. The company followed.

Fili rushed to his uncle's side, grabbed Kira's pack, and walked beside him as much as was possible while they followed Kili to the cave. Fili was confused and worried over what he'd come back to witness, but said nothing.

"Did you find a cave?" Thorin yelled.

"Yes!" Fili shouted back, "A dry cave, not far round the next corner."

"Did you check it, laddie?" Thorin yelled. The last thing they needed now was to encounter some wild animal.

"As best we could see," Fili yelled. They didn't have much choice in the matter either way. Fili kept glancing between the path ahead, Thorin, and the little that he could see of Kira. Her face was still pressed against Thorin's neck and Fili couldn't help but feel angry and jealous. He pushed the feelings down as best as he could, but they fought back with each glance.

Finally, they reached the cave. Thorin rushed Kira toward the back of the cave, away from the winds but not out of the dim light. "Oin! Gloin! Get a fire going," he shouted.

Fili tore Kira's bedroll off her pack and laid it down on the floor of the cave. Thorin placed her on it and pulled her arms back out of the bundle of clothing. They were frozen again. "Warm her," he said to Fili as he pulled his gloves off again and pushed her sleeves up. Fili followed what Thorin was doing without a word and started working on her other arm. He kept a careful eye on where Thorin was touching her.

They rubbed their hands along her arms to create some friction on her skin. They did the same with her legs, shoulders and stomach. Slowly but surely, and with much help from the new fire, color returned to Kira's limbs. Fili pulled her up and cradled her head against him with a sigh of relief. A groan escaped her lips as she tried to speak, but Fili hushed her and leaned his head on hers.

Fili grabbed his cloak and wrapped it around her, replacing the coat that Thorin had wrapped her in. He handed the coat back to Thorin as he'd stood up to leave. Thorin suppressed his anger at this: he'd saved her life and Fili was behaving with near hostility. Thorin glared at him, but didn't say anything. He just took his coat, put it on, and walked to the other side of the cave, near the opening. He sat down and pulled out his pipe, brooding while he watched the rain.

Kira was groggy, like she was waking up really slowly from a deep sleep. She had been hanging in there till they'd stopped moving: without the steady movement of her feet to keep her going, Kira had let the warmth slip from her body and had embraced the cold around her. It had enveloped her, pulling her into unconsciousness.

She was now slowing coming back to reality. She was wrapped up in Fili's arms now; Thorin had left them only moments ago, once her lips had turned back to their usual reddish color. She could have sworn that it was Thorin who had been holding her outside in the cold, unrelenting rain, but when she opened her eyes, huddled in Fili's embrace, she doubted her memory. She could have easily dreamed it as she was losing her grip on reality.

The company had stripped off their outer wet garments and were huddled around the warm fire as their clothes dried. Kira didn't move. She just looked on to the fire and watched the flames dance as she thought about what she'd seen. The huge mountain gods were clearly angry. She had no prayers for mountains, but whoever did had clearly abandoned their humility. Or maybe something had invaded the mountains and violated the ecosystem? Kira missed the sun and the trees; they never threw boulders at anyone.

She realized that she had been enjoying the warmth of Fili's arms for a while now without him knowing that she was awake. He absentmindedly stroked her face.

She sat up, suddenly feeling really uncomfortable with the intimacy of the situation. It'd occurred to her, in that instant while she was lying in his arms, that she'd had other people caring for her far too much lately. She was supposed to be fending for herself for the first time in her adult life, but she kept letting these dwarves, elves, and hobbit take care of her.

_Not anymore, _she thought to herself. This would be her last near-death experience. _I pick myself up or I die where I am. I must be my own warrior! _She felt a fire ignite in her that she hadn't felt in a long time. An image of her father lit up in her mind, a vision of real honor. She must do her best to be more like her dad. She can't expect anyone to be there to take care of her.

"No more," she mumbled to herself as she stood up. A pile of clothing fell from her as she straightened up. She nearly tripped when she bent down to collect her cloak from the pile. She grabbed her bag and bedroll, too.

"Are you alright, love?" Fili whispered as she'd stood up. Most of the company had started to fall asleep already.

"I am well now, thank you," she replied. She flipped her braids to one shoulder and slung her pack on the other to free her hands to roll up her bed.

"Where're you going?" Fili was starting to worry he'd done something wrong.

"I'm sleeping over there," she pointed to an empty spot closer to the front of the cave, but still near the fire. "Good night." She turned to step off, but Fili had stood up and touched her arm to stop her.

"Did I do something wrong, Kira?" he gave her a pleading look.

She stared down at the floor. "No, you haven't been anything but kind to me," she replied. "I need some space to sort my thoughts." She turned and left to the spot on the far end of the cave before he could say anything else.

Fili was at a loss for words. _Sort her thoughts?_ Was that good? Bad? He sat back down.

"What do you suppose that means, Kil'?" he whispered down to his brother who was lying nearby, pretending to sleep.

Kili didn't move.

"Come on, brother, I know you're awake. You haven't snored in an hour."

"Hmm? Oh, she's crazy about you," he whispered in reply. He opened one eye. "Don't look now, Fili, but she's bothering you for a tumble." Fili chuckled and punched his brother in the arm who rolled over in response. Fili laid back on his bedroll and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Thorin had opted to take the first and only watch of that night. He didn't feel much like sleeping, anyway. He sat near the front of the cave, leaning against a rock, smoking the dregs of tobacco that remained in his pipe. He'd heard the conversation between Fili and Kira. He was preoccupied with solving the puzzle that Kira presented them.

Thorin had always been very good at reading people. People were very predictable, as he'd found over the years. Kira was different, though, in this situation with his nephew. He still couldn't be sure if she cared for him, one way or the other. For example, just now, he saw Kira lay there in Fili's arms long after she'd waken up, indicating she felt comfortable and enjoyed being intimate with him. On the other hand, she just stood up and left for no discernible reason. And she made no visible reaction to being called "love".

_Maybe nomads don't fall in love,_ he mused. He knew it was ridiculous, though. If you can desire for something then you can also love. It stood to reason, especially for dwarves. They say that the only thing a dwarf would covet more than his treasure or craft is his wife.

_Hmm. Maybe she doesn't need to love him to marry him._ He considered this carefully. It wasn't as though she had much to offer, and Fili didn't have competition as far as he knew. Thorin felt a tinge of guilt thinking about her this way. From what he'd seen on the quest thus far, Fili had failed at each opportunity to save her when she was in distress. The trolls, her collapsing in front of Elrond, just now on the mountainside…

_Maybe he doesn't deserve her after all._ Thorin took another puff. She won't live for long if he keeps this track record.

If he were being perfectly honest, Thorin would have to admit that some small part of him somewhere had actually enjoyed holding Kira close today, being what stood between her and freezing to death. He hadn't been that physically close to a woman in years. Remembering her face pressed into his neck sent a little jolt of electricity through him in a way that he hadn't felt in a very long time.

There was no point in remembering it, though. He could never betray his nephew like that whether or not he wanted to. He was not going to break his promise just because of very small, very brief feeling. _I'll just have to make the lad work a little harder to keep her. _ He clearly needed help, especially after the display he saw tonight.

* * *

Bilbo was tossing and turning on his bedroll, a furrowed expression on his face. He'd been having trouble falling asleep for a good long while now. Once he finally did, he was bothered by any number of horribly nasty dreams. In one dream, he kept seeing this huge crack form in the back of the cave with horrible sounding voices coming from it. He would toss a bit and settle back in, but would be confronted with the same dream again. Then he dreamed that the floor of the cave was slipping away and that he was beginning to fall down, deep into the mountain.

At that last image, Bilbo woke with a sudden start and found that part of his dream had turned out to be true. At the back of the cave in the deepest part of the shadows, a crack had opened and was widening at an alarming rate. He was just in time to see a dreadfully mangled hand reach through the crack and push the rocks apart.

Of course, he gave a loud yell as loud as a hobbit can give: "The cave! It's opening!" he shrieked.

Out jumped the goblins all big and ugly, but quick. Thorin was already on his feet, with Orcrist drawn. Within moments, the rest of the company had jumped up and drawn their weapons to meet the horde of goblins. The stampede of goblin feet had stamped out the fire and the company was left to fight in the dark against an unending stream of foes.

Kira fought with a renewed vigor. She had been of the ideal mindset to meet this unexpected attack since she had been reviewing her knowledge of self-defense in her head while she was falling asleep. She felt a rush of adrenaline with every stab and a renewed sense of victory with every shriek her foe gave.

In spite of their best efforts, though, the company fell one by one to the goblins, completely overwhelmed by the shear number of enemies. Goblin bodies littered the ground around them, but the living creatures just stepped on their fallen comrades without a second thought.

Thorin had taken down at least fourteen goblins before they finally overpowered him. Two had jumped on his back, knocking him to the ground so that several others could disarm him and tied his hands and feet.

Kira had not been counting how many she felled; she had been entirely focused on killing her prey. She'd taken advantage of the goblins' bulbous eyes and exposed bellies. She wielded her short sword like a long knife, stabbing into the soft flesh of her foe, her other hand armed with one of Fili's knives which she used to scale the larger ones. Much like Thorin, she was disarmed where two of the larger goblins tackled her to the ground; one had even managed to keep holding her down after she'd stabbed its back several times.

After she was wrestled into ties, she continued to thrash and scream profanities in every way that she knew. They may have physically subdued her, but she would not give them the satisfaction of her going peacefully. _No more!_ She would be subdued no more!

The goblins marched them down winding tunnels, some of them carrying piles of confiscated weapons and supplies from the party. The dwarves remained silent as they marched on with rigid looks carved on their faces. Kira kept thrashing. Occasionally she would stop to see if they would relax their grip. They wouldn't, so she continued hurling insults and kicking her legs.

With a wicked symphony of clanging metal and beating rocks, the goblins began to sing as they marched along with their prisoners:

_Clap! Snap! the black crack!  
Grip, grab! Pinch, nab!  
And down down to Goblin-town  
You go, my lad!_

Clash, crash! Crush, smash!  
Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs!  
Pound, pound, far underground!  
Ho, ho! my lad!

Swish, smack! Whip crack!  
Batter and beat! Yammer and bleat!  
Work, work! Nor dare to shirk,  
While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh,  
Round and round far underground  
Below, my lad!

Kira had originally thought that the goblins were going to eat them. Now, with hearing their gruesome song, she feared that the company would not be getting out of this one without much bloodshed and very much luck.

The goblins, at it turned out, had been leading their prisoners to a massive flat rock in the heart of the mountain. The dwarves had made no noise during this trip down to the center of the mountain with the exception of some muttering and swearing. Now, the prisoners were lined up in front of a horrible throne made of bones, stones, and warped metal, on which sat the massive, disgusting Great Goblin.

The company stared on in stony silence.

* * *

**Author: Thank you, everyone for reading! I hope you enjoyed this update. :) I wanted to let everyone know that since I'll be starting classes again next week, I won't be able to update as often after this chapter. I will update a chapter per week for the next 10 weeks, or so, instead of one per day like now. I hope you will still be interested in the story!**

**To Guest Reviewer: Thank you for your kind words! It is humbling to hear that you've enjoyed my writing so far.**

** To Reaverattack: Haha, happy to hear it. ^.^**

**So we have one for Team Fili! Anyone else? **


	8. Goblintown

**Chapter 8: Goblintown**

"Who are these miserable persons?" the Great Goblin asked his underlings.

"Dwarves, your malevolence." said one.

"We found 'em on the Front Porch!" yelled another with a grotesquely disfigured head.

"Dwarves?" The Great Goblin repeated with a sinister look on his face.

"And these," a third goblin said, pushing Kira and Bilbo front and center. Bilbo's knees shook. Kira had half a mind to start swearing again.

"What do you mean by it?" said the massive Great Goblin, "Up to no good I warrant! Spying on the private business of my people, I guess! Thieves, I shouldn't be surprised to learn! Murderers and friends of Elves, not unlikely! Assassins! Come! What have you got to say? I want the truth!" The goblin had spoken with more and more fervor with every sentence. By the time he'd reached this last part, he'd roused a good many goblins into a bleating frenzy.

The company looked at each other, not really knowing what to do. As discretely as possible, the dwarves surrounded Thorin to obscure him from the giant goblin. After all, goblins had no ill will toward dwarves in general, but Durinsfolk will always be the villains in their history. It was the dwarves of Erebor who fought in the war between the goblins and the dwarves. Thorin had personally slain many of the Great Goblin's kinsmen in the battle for Khazad-Dum, and, if he recognized him, there would be no chance of the company getting out alive.

In spite of this, Thorin was about to step forward to speak for his people. Bofur stopped him and stepped forward in front of him.

"If it's information you want then I'm the one you should speak to," Bofur spoke up, his voice slightly shaking. The Great Goblin looked at him expectantly. Bofur paused. He had no idea what to say, but he spoke anyway, "We were on a road. Well, not so much as a road as a path. Actually, it's not even that come to think of it. It's more like a track."

The Goblin King looked annoyed. Bofur continued, "Anyway, the point is we were on a road like a path like a track, and then we weren't. Which is a problem, because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday."

"Shut up," the Great Goblin muttered in aggravation.

"Visiting distant relations!" Dori chimed in. He did not seem to read the situation well.

Bofur nodded. "Some inbreds on me mother's side-"

"Shut up!" the Goblin King roared.

"He is a liar, O truly tremendous one!" one of the goblins shrieked as he shoved Bofur back into the line up. "Several of our people died back in the cave when we invited them down below."

"And he didn't explain this!" another goblin shouted, throwing Orcrist down at the feet of the Great Goblin.

The Goblin King let out a howl of rage as he recognized the blade. It had killed hundreds of goblins in its time. "It is the Goblin-cleaver! The Biter! Murderers and Elf-friends! Slash them! Beat them! Bite them! Gnash them! Take them away to dark holes full of snakes and never let them see the light again!" the Goblin was furious now.

'Wait!" Thorin shouted as he stepped forward. He was not about to stand idly by as his company got tortured.

Unfortunately, this made matters worse.

"So it's you! Thorin, son of Thrain, murderer and assassin of my kin!" the massive goblin shouted, pointed a gnarled finger at Thorin. "I shall have the pleasure of ripping my revenge from your flesh, myself!"

The goblins grabbed their whips and clubs and started thrashing the company, hitting and swinging erratically. The goblins attempted to herd them into the tunnels, the company fighting right back as much as they could while still being restrained. Thorin had been seized and was being dragged toward the Great Goblin.

Just then, all the lights went out in the caverns; even to Great Fire at the center of Goblintown went off emitting a tower of blue glowing smoke that scattered piercing white sparks all among the goblins.

The yells and yammering, croaking, howls and growls of the goblins rose to a cacophonous new high, the likes of which the members of the company had never heard before. It sounded as though the goblins were being roasted alive; the smoke that now settled from the roof made the air thick, too thick for them to see very well through. The goblins continued to shriek, writhing on the floor at their feet, as if they'd gone mad.

The dwarves, Kira, and Bilbo huddled together as best as they could, lest they be knocked off the platform with their hands still bound. Thorin, of course, had been dropped on the ground closer to the Great Goblin.

A flash of light cut through the smoke and a sword could be seen stabbing right through the Goblin King. At the other end of the sword was none other than Gandalf, the very best person who could have shown up presently. The Great Goblin stood there in a stupor as Gandalf pulled the sword out of his bloated stomach.

"The Beater!" he said with a gurgle. The Goblin King had managed to say one thing before dying, for right as the words passed his lips, Gandalf swung Glamdring across the Goblin King's neck and whacked his head clear off.

Silence fell over Goblintown. The company stood in shock at the sight of Gandalf standing over the headless body of the Great Goblin, his sword glowing faintly in the darkness. Thorin was still on the ground, not too far away.

"Take up arms," Gandalf's voice boomed in the caverns. "We will have to fight our way out!"

With one swift slice, he cut the bonds on Thorin's hands. Thorin leapt up and ran to the pile of their weapons and grabbed his swords. He started cutting the bonds of the other members of his company. Nori and Bifur handed out the remainder of the weapons once they were set free.

They had only just been rearmed when they heard shouts and yells coming from the tunnels.

"Follow me, quick!" Gandalf started down one of the nearby tunnels, his sword still drawn, and Thorin followed him closely dual-wielding Orcrist and Deathless, one in each hand. The rest of the company ran behind them. Trotting along as quickly as he could, Bilbo was beginning to fall behind.

"Half a minute!" Dori shouted. Without hesitation, he stopped and snatched up the hobbit before continuing to run down the tunnel with Bilbo on his back. The company had not made it very far when they ran straight into another swarm of goblins.

Gandalf and Thorin continued to lead the fight, closely followed by Fili, Kili, and Kira. Dwalin and Gloin brought up the rear, fighting the goblins coming from where they'd left; they were being attacked at both ends by this point.

From Bilbo's point of view on Dori's back, it was chaos. Axes, swords, and arrows flew everywhere. Many times, a goblin would come scarily close to reaching the hobbit only for Dori to hack it apart.

They managed to push the Goblins back across a bridge down the path. They plowed straight through them, hacking at anything in their way and shoving the goblins off the sides as they went.

The goblins responded with more numbers. They were angry at the loss of their leader and used this rage to fuel their fight. It was beginning to look like the company would be overwhelmed when Gandalf shouted another mighty spell and an explosion of light flooded the cavern.

With the path newly cleared again, they ran.

"The only thing to save us now is daylight," Gandalf shouted still leading the way. Nobody had any idea where they were going; they could only assume that Gandalf did.

They came to a large wooden bridge. As soon as the company reached the center of this bridge, it crashed down, falling several stories before landing on another landing. On this lower landing was another horde of goblins. Clearly, the bridge had been a trap.

In the new chaos that ensued, Dori had not noticed that Bilbo had fallen off his back. He was too preoccupied with the several goblins now attacking him all at once.

"_Ôbinkirekhu_!" Thorin yelled. Many dwarves echoed him around, giving each other strength to keep fighting. Even Kira felt a new surge of energy.

By some miracle, the waves of goblins thinned and the company was able to pushed on further. The passageway narrowed, enabling them to strike down their enemies one by one. The party kept running, leaving a littered mess of dead goblins behind them.

After what seemed like hours, a glimmer of daylight could be seen ahead. Finally, they burst out of the side of the mountain and into the glorious light of midmorning.

The company ran a ways into the trees before they stopped. Many dwarves sat and chattered, comprehending their narrow escape.

Gandalf was counting the dwarves as they settled down. Thorin was scanning the trees. He wasn't completely sold on their sudden safety.

Kira was standing at the base of one of the trees, singing as quietly as she could. She hadn't realized how much she'd hated being underground in the dark, rocky interior of the mountain till she saw the trees and felt the sun. She was enjoying the fresh oxygen as she processed what they'd just survived. She stared at her fingers as she recounted her actions.

Thorin saw her standing there, staring at her hands. He was impressed at how well she had fought in the caves, now that he'd thought about it. He looked over to Fili. Fili was talking to Kili, both excitedly telling each other how effectively they'd dispatched the goblins without even being injured. Thorin felt old as he watched his nephews chatter; his days of feeling glory after battle were long gone.

"Fili!" Thorin shouted. Fili's head snapped up. Thorin nodded his head in Kira's direction. Fili followed his uncle's gaze and saw Kira staring at her hands. Without saying anything to Kili, Fili walked over to her.

"Kira! How was that, eh?" Fili said with a smile once he'd approached her.

"Hmm?" Kira said looking up.

"I saw you dispatch a couple of 'em, myself. Not too shabby." He patted her on the shoulder with an approving look.

"So I did!" Kira shouted suddenly. She ran back in the direction of the cave.

"No, wait!" Fili ran after her. "What are you doing?"

"I'll be just a moment!" Kira set her sights right on the mouth of the cave. Once they were approximately 20 yards away, she stopped running and continued on walking quietly and carefully. Kira turned to Fili, who had followed her of course, and motioned for him to remain silent by placing one finger over his lips.

Confused as he was, he wasn't going to argue. He just needed to make sure she was safe.

Once they reached the mouth of the cave again, Kira cautiously peered inside. The immediate inside was still littered with a mess of dead goblins and broken weapons. The sun was still at an angle to bathe the cave, so the goblins were forced to wait before they could bury their fallen comrades. A door that hadn't been there before had been closed several dozen feet into the tunnel, cutting the path off.

"What are you doing?" Fili whispered. "We should go."

"I have to collect something," Kira replied. She didn't recognize any of the dead goblins nearest to the door, so she carefully crept further inside scanning the bodies on the ground.

"If you lost something, I'll find you another one," Fili whispered. He was beginning to get anxious the closer they got to the door.

"No—Oh!" she'd spied one that she'd fought. The goblin had a slash across its throat with dried black blood smattered on the gash. Kira knelt by the goblin and whispered something inaudible to Fili. She then drew her short sword and hacked off the goblin's hand.

"What in Durin's name are you doing!" Fili exclaimed in as loud of a whisper as he dared.

"All done," Kira said with a smile as she straightened up. "We can go now." Se ran out of the cave with Fili following closely.

Once outside of the cave, Fili felt it was safe to address the curious situation.

"Why d'you want a hand?" he asked her. "Is this a nomad-thing or something?"

"Um," Kira wasn't sure how to explain the ritual without it sounding worse than it was. "It's respect for the dead. I'll show you when the time is right." Kira gave him a warm smile.

Fili responded with a suspicious look.

"It's not bad. You'll see, my friend," she said.

As they approached the rest of the group, Gandalf was chastising the company for losing Bilbo.

"After all he is my friend," said the wizard, "I feel responsible for him. How could you have lost him?"

"He has been more trouble than use so far," said Gloin. "If we have got to go back now into those abominable tunnels to look for him, then drat him, I say."

Gandalf answered angrily, "I brought him, and I don't bring things that are of no use. Either you help me to look for him, or I go and leave you here to get out of the mess as best you can yourselves. If we can only find him again, you will thank me before all is over. Where did you last see him?"

Nori chimed in, "I thought I saw him with Dori." Gandalf turned on him with a fierce look.

"Well don't blame me!" said Dori indignantly.

"What happened? Speak!" Gandalf was furious.

"I-" Dori started but was interrupted by an annoyed Thorin.

"I'll tell you what happened! Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it. He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since he first stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone." Thorin was not about to go back into that mountain whether or not Bilbo was there.

"No, he isn't," said Bilbo's voice from nowhere. Oh how they all jumped at the sound of his disembodied words so near them but nowhere to be seen. Bilbo stepped out from behind a tree.

"Bilbo!" exclaimed Kili, "We'd given you up!"

"How on earth did you get past the goblins?" Dori asked.

"Or past us, for that matter," said Fili. He glanced at Thorin, who was staring in disbelief.

"A clever bit of work, indeed," said Balin. "Perhaps our hobbit is a burglar, yet."

"How did you do it?" asked Thorin, who was still puzzled but the situation.

"Oh, just crept along, you know—very carefully and quietly," answered Bilbo quite pleased with the reaction he'd gotten from his sudden reappearance.

"I'd like an exact account, if you don't mind, laddie," said Dwalin. He was truly skeptical of the whole business.

"Not now," said Thorin, "Master Baggins will tell us in time. For now, we must move on. We'll need to find food and shelter before dark."

Everyone agreed that Bilbo's tale could be told as they walked. Walk they did, for many hours through the trees.

Bilbo told his story in full with the exception of finding his magic ring. For some reason, every time he was about to mention it, he instead embellished his story with daring feats of slyness.

"In fact, I thought I was going to have to go back into that mountain to rescue you lot," he said proudly of his ultimate escape. "Until, of course I heard your arguing in the forest."

"That's quite a tale," Dwalin said. "With much exaggeration, no doubt."

"Aye, but his presence is proof of his escape, at least," admitted Nori.

"See? What did I tell you?" said Gandalf, quite pleased, "Quiet as a mouse!"

By nightfall, they had finally reached a clearing in the trees. They were tired and grumbling over not having food. They couldn't complain too much, though. As Bofur always said, it could be worse.

The moon was up in the sky, beautifully shining into the clearing. The thinning forest was eerily quiet.

The company sat for a moment before going about their usual roles of starting a fire and making food. Only, since they didn't have food, Bilbo, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur scoured the nearby woods for something to eat.

Kira was holding her bundle of the goblin hand, wrapped in scraps torn from her white shirt under her tunic. Fili was sitting next to her. Kili wasn't with them, but rather was on the edge of the encampment taking first watch.

"So," said Fili, "Now can I ask you what the hand is for?"

Kira had been thinking of how to explain warrior rituals on the walk there, so she was ready with a decent explanation this time:

"In my family we revere life above all else," she said, "but as you know, sometimes you have to take it. For food, for example, or in the defense of your family. For food, we have always been forgiven. In the defense of one's family, though, we must show that life is not taken lightly by honoring the passing of the dead." She lifted the bundle slightly to motion to the hand. "By taking a piece of who you've slain and making it one with your body, you carry the burden of their loss for as long as you live."

Fili had been listening with avid attention. "What do you mean by making it one with your body?" he asked. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Please say you won't eat that."

Kira laughed. Before she could correct him, though, a loud howl pierced the silent forest.

Everyone froze. Another long howl erupted from another direction. And another. And another.

There were wargs gathering under the moon.

"What shall we do!" cried Bilbo. Magic rings were no use against wargs, after all.

"Escaping goblins to be caught by wargs!" huffed Gandalf.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," said Thorin, a more common iteration of what Gandalf had said.

"Run!" the wizard shouted.

* * *

**Author: Hope you enjoyed the update! This chapter was a little tricky, for me, since I wasn't 100% happy with the conversation with the Goblin King in either the book or the movie. Hopefully it was still enjoyable. **

**Note: ****_Ôbinkirekhu_****! is Neo-Khuzdul for "Do not yield!". Special thank you to the Dwarrow Scholar for his extensive lessons in Neo-Khuzdul :)**

**To Verrokami: Haha, one for Team Thorin! We'll see. **

**To Reaverattack: A day may come when we will all have to participate in real life, but it is not this day!**

**To Eleyond: Team Kira? :)**

**To El W: A very perceptive review! Unfortunately, I don't know how to respond without giving something crucial away. I will say that some exciting events are coming in the next few chapters. I look forward to your later reviews!**

**To Polly: I'm happy to hear you are enjoying my story! Sorry this chapter is more action heavy, but we will get back to Thorin very soon. :)**

**To Only Purple: *blushes* You are too kind! Your review was quite humbling to read. I won't say anything to ruin the story, but I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the coming chapters.**

**And thank you everyone for reading/reviewing/following/favoriting! Your continued interest is what keeps me going. :)**


	9. Fire

**Chapter 9: Fire**

More howls erupted from the forest surrounding them. They were coming from every direction.

"There is nowhere to run," yelled Thorin to the wizard.

"Up in the trees, then," Gandalf shouted in response, "Quickly!"

The company scrambled into the trees nearby: Fili, Kili, and Kira, who were the most nimble climbers of the company, quickly found their way to the top of a very tall larch, while Thorin stayed in the branches not too far below. Bifur and Bofur had helped Bombur into an enormous pine while Oin, Gloin, Nor, Dori, and Ori were in similar one nearby. Balin and Dwalin were near the top of the pine with Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur. Gandalf, being the tallest, had climbed into a pine with branches too tall for anyone else to reach and had all but disappeared in its boughs.

Bilbo was left scurrying frantically at the base of the trees, unable to reach any of the lower branches. He had tried to jump several times, but he just missed the lowest branches.

"You left the burglar behind again!" said Nori to Dori.

"I can't always be carrying hobbits around on my back," said Dori, a little cross. "What do you think I am?"

"He'll be eaten if you don't!" shouted Thorin from the nearby tree. "Dori! Hurry down and get him."

Dori begrudgingly climbed down from the tree, let Bilbo onto his back, and scampered back up. Dori wasn't really so opposed to carrying Bilbo, he just didn't appreciate how keeping him alive had suddenly become his responsibility.

The pair was up in the trees again and not a moment too soon, for the wargs had truly gathered and started to fill the clearing. Apparently, the very same clearing that the company had been so happy to find at first was also a regular meeting place of not only the Wargs from the Edge of the Wild, but also of their goblin neighbors. After the initial pack, wargs still continued to filter into the clearing from the trees. There were hundreds of them; the forest floor below them seemed to have been replaced with fur.

The goblins were late, however, presumably due to the death of the Great Goblin, and this had the wargs in a tizzy. They yelped and hollered to each other in their own horrible language. Nobody had any clue what was going on except Gandalf, who understood their language perfectly.

The wargs gnashed their teeth at each other, yipped, barked, and occasionally even attacked each other over arguments of some sort or another. Once one attacked another, the other members of its pack would gather at their brother's back and bark and howl till there was a winner.

The yelping simmered down when a larger, grey-colored warg entered the circular clearing. This was their Chief. He stood taller and grander in front of his peoples and spoke at length in the yips and yowls of their language. At some points, the wargs would bark or stamp their feet in approval of his words. He was rousing them for something, but the company had no way of knowing what. Only Gandalf understood, and he was unable to say a word without giving away their position.

The Warg Chief was informing the pack that the same group of dwarves and halflings (they didn't know what Kira or Bilbo were so called them both "short people") that had slain their brothers had also slain the most esteemed Great Goblin. He explained that they could not have gotten far in one day and ordered a hunt for them. He placed special emphasis on killing the blonde dwarf and the female who killed their brother, and on Thorin Oakenshield who they mistakenly understood to be responsible for the death of the Great Goblin. The warg chief commanded that they would wait till the goblins arrived, then they were to scour the forests for any sign of life not their own.

Gandalf listened to this in silent anguish. It would be nothing short of a miracle if he got them out of this one alive. Luckily, it seemed as though these wargs were not the same who chased the company and therefore did not have the scents to match to them, not yet, anyway. He was already formulating some kind of plan to get them out.

The particular wargs that had chased the company into the hidden valley had met the goblins by the mountainside and were now quickly approaching the massive warg meeting in the clearing. Once the goblins arrived, many of them on the backs of their warg hosts, some warg guards began to sniff out the tree line. The larger goblin, still mounted on a warg, approached the warg chief.

Two massive wargs were sniffing the ground and the tree trunks surrounding the circular clearing in the trees. They were members of the pack from which Fili killed his first warg, so of course they were very familiar with the scents of the company.

_They'll find us soon,_ Thorin thought to himself. Very slowly as to not make a sound, he reached behind him and placed one had on Orcrist. Slowly, the rest of the party followed suit. They all fixed their eyes on wargs as they approached the bases of their trees.

Naturally, the warg guards did come to their scents and barked and yapped to alert the others of what they'd found. The goblins, astride the wargs that had escorted them there, bounded over to see what the fuss was. They immediately recognized the company in the trees.

"It's them! The assassins! Attack!" they shouted. Wargs snarled and bit the trunks of the trees, but fortunately for Thorin and company, they could not climb them. When the wargs realized they could not reach their prey, the worked themselves up into a frenzy, climbing on top of each other haphazardly and lunging at the branches.

The wargs were especially focused on the tree holding Thorin, Fili, and Kira since they had just been named as main targets of their hunt. Thorin had dropped down to a lower branch and swung Orcrist at any warg that jumped high enough to meet his steel. Kili aimed his arrows as well as he could through the branches, but it proved to be quite difficult to strike in the dim light and through the thick trees branches.

One massive warg was dangerously close to reaching a branch on Dori and Bilbo's tree when a fireball whizzed down and landed on him, immediately lighting his coat on fire. The warg yelped and flailed on the ground. It had been hit by a pinecone that Gandalf had enchanted with a blue flame. Gandalf continued plucking pinecones from his tree, lighting them ablaze, and tossing them down at the pack of wargs at their feet.

Occasionally, he would toss a couple to other members of the company, who plucked more pinecones from their trees and lit them with the fire from the ones that Gandalf had tossed to them. The bright blue fire seemed to only hurt the wargs and goblins below.

The company cheered with each pinecone that hit its mark. Slowly, the circle was widening around the base of the trees as fewer and fewer wargs were willing to try and climb the trees with the rain of fireballs.

The goblins were not going to give up just yet, though. By this point, they had pulled out their spears and arrows and made a fire at the center of the clearing.

"If they want fire, set the trees ablaze! Roast the birds in their nests!" a larger goblin shouted. Apparently he had some sort of status that warranted giving orders, because the goblins did just that. They wrapped the tips of their spears and arrows in cloth and held them in the large fire before aiming at the trees.

"Fire!" the large goblin yelled. The wargs had backed away to a respectable distance to allow the goblins full view of their prey. They barked to cheer for the goblins. They were just as invested in avenging the deaths dealt to them as the goblins were. They stood by in case they were needed.

The thick boughs of the trees served the company well; the branches caught the arrows and spears before they could reach their mark, giving the dwarves, Kira, Bilbo, and Gandalf time to rip the arrows out and throw them to the ground before the trees caught fire.

Once they saw that their plan was not working, the goblins changed tactics. They piled tinder around the bases of the five trees and started a fire. If they could not burn them from the top down, they would burn them from the ground up!

The fire steadily grew surrounding the trees, and the goblins began to taunt the dwarves and halflings. They danced around the fire singing:

_Sixteen birds in four fir-trees,  
Their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze!  
But, funny little birds, they had no wings!  
O what shall we do with the funny little things?  
Roast 'em alive, or stew them in a pot;  
Fry them, boil them and eat them hot? _

_Burn, burn tree and fern!  
Shrivel and scorch! A fizzling torch  
To light the night for our delight  
Bake and toast 'em, fry and roast 'em!  
Till beards blaze, and eyes glaze;  
Till hair smells and skins crack,  
Fat melts, and bones black  
In cinders lie  
Beneath the sky!  
So dwarves shall die,  
And light the night for our delight! _

The bark on the trees was creaking. The fire had caught the tree trunks, which were beginning to buckle; Gandalf's tree was visibly swaying. He climbed up to the top of his tree as the lower branches cracked. He readied himself for the inevitable fall into the goblins below. He stood on his branch, ready to jump.

But he never did. Right at that moment, the great Lord of the Eagles had plucked him from the tree and bore him away.

The company watched first in surprise, then in anger, as their wizard was delivered from the danger they were now forced to deal with alone.

"Stand your ground!" Thorin yelled. They will not be dying without a fight.

Gandalf must have communicated with the Lord of the Eagles, however, because just as the company was accepting their loss of the wizard, a whole flock of gigantic eagles swept over them, plucking them from the trees with their massive talons. The dwarves shrieked and hollered as they were forced from the branches.

The eagles seemed to pay their noises no mind. They held onto their charges as tightly as was necessary to ensure they didn't slip through their claws. The eagles flapped their wings to gain more altitude, occasionally letting out screeches of communication between them.

Now far about the circular clearing in the trees, they could hear the angry yells and howls of the goblins and wargs below, lamenting the loss of their prey once more. They could see the burning trees long after they'd lost sight of the goblins.

The mountain grew nearer as the eagles flew on. The company had no idea where they were being taken.

Eventually, the flock landed on a flat cliff: the eagles' eyrie. The two eagles that had snatched Kira and Kili and Fili and Thorin dropped them on the hard rock. The rest of the company was set down a little more gently on adjacent ledges. They were all roughly together, or at least in sight, with the exception of Gandalf. The Lord of the Eagles had his own perch where he desired to speak to the wizard alone.

The company did not know what to do. Nobody had known that the race of giant eagles even still lived, nor did they know the proper manners for this situation. They were all hungry and tired, so contented themselves with sitting and grumbling to each other for the time being.

"Our wizard has many friends, it seems," Thorin said to his nephews and Kira quietly.

"Ones that he summoned in the nick of time," Fili agreed.

"Do you think it's going well up there?" Kira said, pointing to the perch far above them where the giant Lord of the Eagles could just barely be seen.

"Maybe he's negotiating a ride to the mountain, eh?" Kili responded with a hopeful look in his eyes. Kira shuddered at the thought. She'd much rather walk.

"Don't be daft, Kili," Thorin said, "If we were welcomed, they would be speaking in front of us and not in private."

No one spoke after that.

After many hours, Gandalf finally joined them along with the Lord of Eagles. Gandalf bowed to him before addressing the group.

"Our most gracious host, Lord of the Great Eagles, has agreed to feed us and let us stay for the night. Tomorrow, he has agreed to take us as far as the Carrock so we may avoid any more encounters with these awful goblins. We owe him our deepest thanks."

"We are simply repaying our debt, Gandalf," the great Lord of Eagles corrected him, "Do not take this as anything more." With a screech, he flew off back to perch far above, while the other eagles swooped down into the forest.

They returned with boughs of branches, animals, and various plants so the company could build a fire and go about preparing some food.

With their pile of supplies, Oin and Gloin made a fire and Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur set about skinning and cooking the various rabbits and deer that the eagles had brought. Kira sorted through the other plants, separating what Gloin and Oin could use to fuel the fire and what they could eat.

Kira nibbled on berries and leaned against a rock while the dwarves and Bilbo ate the meat. She pulled out the bundle of cloth from inside her tunic. The hand was no longer as stiff as it had been when she first hacked it off, and it was beginning to get soft to the touch. She was happy that it had not fallen out of her tunic when the eagle snatched her and Kili up.

She put the bundle back in her tunic. There was no privacy here for her to take care of it, anyway, so it would have to wait. She smiled as she thought of her dad. She was finally going to have something like him on her person. Kira missed her father so very much. He used to be her rock in the storm. He kept his family safe, always putting himself in danger before anyone else.

Kira sighed. She looked over to Thorin on the ledge nearby. He was keeping a watchful eye on the eagles in spite of Gandalf's complete trust in them. She loved how his eyes looked at this angle from the fire, like the ocean during a cyclone; they were a deep blue with flickers of navy from the reflection of the flames. She could just imagine him holding her close, her looking into his eyes as he stared into hers.

Kira closed her eyes and shook her head. She'd caught herself staring at him again. She pulled her knees up and rested her forehead on them. She knew better than to daydream about Thorin, but it was insanely difficult to stop. She had given up on him back in Rivendell, in her moment of clarity under the influence of the strong herbs the elves had given her, but she had nothing to transfers her feelings to. She'd never had the opportunity to have such strong feelings before, and she didn't know what to do with them now. She needed something, anything, to make her stop feeling this way toward a dwarf that would never love her back.

She lifted her head and looked over to Fili sitting nearby, talking to his brother. He caught her gaze and gave her a smile. She smiled back before putting her head back down. There was no use ignoring it now. It had been very clear back in the cave, before they were captured, that Fili had feelings for her, more than friends care for each other. She had ignored any sign of it thus far, if there had been any, but she couldn't ignore his behavior then. He seemed so hurt when she moved her bedroll. Not to mention that word he called her…

She thought of Thorin again. And then of Fili. _How much easier this trip would be, _she thought to herself, _if I were in love with Fili, instead._

Maybe that wasn't so out of reach, though. She remembered the moments that Fili reminded her of Thorin: his politeness, the way he fought… He had many good qualities, too. He was smart, sweet, capable, and had a wonderful sense of humor. At times he acted a little childishly, but he would eventually grow out of that.

_To be honest, _she thought to herself, _it is probably the closest I will ever get to…_ She lifted her head and looked at Thorin again. He was still watching the eagles. Fili would be so happy, too, if her feelings changed. She did care for him, after all, as her friend. Maybe she could push those feelings to something more?

It was decided. Kira would try to forget Thorin by focusing on cultivating romantic feelings for Fili.

Satisfied with her decision, she stretched her arms and legs a bit before standing up and joining Fili and Kili.

"Hello," she said as she sat down next to them.

"'allo," they both said at the same time.

"Can I join your conversation?" Kira asked.

"We were just talking about you," Kili said with a smile.

Kira looked between Kili and Fili without saying anything.

"About your souvenir from the goblin tunnel," Fili said, a little embarrassed.

"Oh," Kira said. She pulled the hand out from where it was tucked in her tunic.

"You keep it in your clothing?" Kili said with an incredulous look.

"I'm surprised you still have it," Fili said, trying to cover up his brother's comment.

"Mhmm," she said. Kira flipped it over in her hands and looked up at the brothers. Upon seeing their faces, it dawned on her why they had brought it up. "Oh, did you want to know why I kept it?"

"Yes!"

"Yes, please."

Kira looked at the brothers, sizing up how they may respond. "Kili," she said, "did Fili tell you what I told him before the warg attack?"

"Naturally," Kili replied.

"As much as I would prefer to show you, this is not the time or place," Kira started. She leaned in and lowered her voice, "I'm going to burn it to dust and embed the ashes into my skin."

They both stared at her with befuddled looks, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Um, I suppose dwarves don't do this then. I'll make cuts in my skin like this," she traced a three line design on the floor with her finger. "Not deep enough to bleed, but just deep enough. Then I push the blackened ash into the cuts. After it heals, the ash will stay in my skin and the design will stay as a reminder of the life it came from."

They considered this for a moment. Fili was first to make the connection.

"Oh! You mean to tattoo yourself," he said with a smile. He was happy her ritual was not some weird, random tribal thing after all.

"Tattoo..." Kira repeated. She had never heard the word before, but she was happy that that 'tattoos' seemed to be okay with them.

"Aye, some dwarves get them for their trades," Fili said.

"Those that don't have wives," Kili teased. They both laughed.

Kira smiled awkwardly. She did not want to laugh at people she didn't know. She was happy, though, that her practice was not so unusual after all. Her father had several warrior markings, nine in total. Eight were arranged in an octagonal, wheel-like shape on his right shoulder blade, and a single solitary one was on his left shoulder blade.

Kira decided that she would start on her right shoulder blade as well. Who knew if she would be making any more additions to it? She would ultimately need someone to do it for her, then, but she hoped that Fili would be okay with helping her later.

The joke that Kili had made had changed to topic to dwarves and dwarf culture. Kira listened with rapt interest, chiming in with the odd thing here and there that she was familiar with from her own life.

After several hours, the company finally wound down. With the fire still lit, they went to sleep on the hard stone floor of the eyrie. Everyone, of course, except Thorin, who was still watching over the company and over the large eagles perched quietly nearby.

* * *

The next morning, the company woke up to find that the eagles were ready to carry them off and be done with them. They each climbed on the back of the same eagle that bore them there, with the exception of Gandalf, who climbed on Bilbo's eagle. Once each member of the company was on, they took off.

Kira kept her eyes closed and clung firmly to the feathers on the massive eagle's back. Fili had traded with Kili so he could ride on the same eagle as Kira. He was not so uneasy about the flying, but could clearly see Kira trying to ignore it. He clenched one hand tightly on the massive bird's back and moved his other arm around her. He clung onto the feathers on her other side.

Kira made no visible reaction, but was grateful to have him shield some of the wind from her. It helped her try to forget they were on the back of a giant bird, thousands of feet above the ground.

* * *

**Author: Another chapter for all of you wonderful people! I know I said that I wouldn't update more than once a week, but stats homework is very boring, so, this one is for Team Fili!**

**To Reaverattack: This chapter was written with you in mind. :) Hope you enjoyed it!**

**To Polly: Thank you! I glad you liked it. :) Sorry, as much as I love writing those moments, the story just didn't lend to it in this chapter. Please keep reading, though! This story is far from over.**

**Thank you so much, everyone for your support! I just finished mapping the story out, and I am ridiculously excited for the next few chapters. Stay tuned!**


	10. Of Bees and Bears

**Chapter 10: Of Bees and Bears**

One by one, the giant eagles landed on the Carrock and allowed their passengers to dismount before taking off once more. Most of the company was too shaky to remember to even thank the eagles, but Gandalf luckily knew just what to say as they left.

"May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks!" the wizard shouted as the eagles flew off. He then waked on down the stone steps and joined the rest of the company in the small cave at the base of the Carrock. The company had gathered around to assess the situation and discuss their next move.

"We will not make it far without food or supplies," said Thorin.

"I don't think there are any settlements here either," said Balin with a grim expression. He could guess where they were based on his keen sense of direction in spite of not being familiar with "The Carrock".

"Right you are, but there is hope yet," said Gandalf. "We still have quite a journey to reach him, though, so we'd best get moving. I can explain as we go along. Firstly, there is a river nearby that we can bathe the goblin-smell from ourselves in. Kira, my dear, we will take shifts so stay here till the dwarves and Bilbo come back."

Everyone, except Kira, followed Gandalf to the river. She stayed there in the cave as she was instructed to do, and sat with her back to the wall all the while wondering what kind of person they should find here on the edge of the wild. Gandalf had said "him," after all, meaning a single solitary man.

"Must be a lonely existence," she said to herself. She couldn't imagine living alone, but then again…This made her think of home and of her mother whom she'd left. A stab of guilt pierced her gut at the thought of how long her mother had been without her. She had lost track of how long they had been traveling, but Kira knew that she had been gone much longer than she'd ever had. Who knew what her mother was doing now, or in what state Kira would find her in when she finally returned, or if she would find her again at all.

Kira sang her morning song softly to herself, trying to vanquish the horrible thoughts that had pushed their way in. She focused carefully on the words and tried to think of happier things. For example, she was starting to feel like she had a new family in Fili, Kili, and Thorin. She was not quite so close with the other dwarves, but they still treated her well.

Minutes after she'd finished her song, she spied the first member of the company to return: Fili. He smiled at her as he walked up, still squeezing water out of his long golden-brown hair, leaving a trail of water after him. She sighed. How could she have been so blind to how he felt about her? She didn't know how long it had been going on, or why he liked her so much for that matter.

"Feeling better?" Kira asked as he approached.

"I'm sure I smell better," he teased.

Kira chuckled. "I'm sure I won't notice the difference," she teased back. He smiled a devilish grin and sat down next to her. He was happy to see she was in a playful mood.

"Did you miss me?" Fili asked, leaning into her face very closely.

Kira looked at him without backing away, leaving their faces barely an inch apart. She wasn't sure how to answer that, but she really wanted to make an effort to like him, so she said, "Yes, of course," with a sheepish grin. It was true that she was happier with him there, after all, and one day, provided her plan works, she will truly miss him when he is gone.

She felt awkward though, behaving so familiarly with Fili, so Kira pulled away a little and turned her gaze down to her hands.

Fili was absolutely elated. He took her shyness just now as a sign that Kira was beginning to develop a crush on him. Oh how he wanted to just hold her tightly and tell her how he felt! He didn't want to scare her, though, so he would wait for the right moment, of course. He could be patient. Fili allowed himself to steal a few minutes to stare at her beautiful face before straightening up. They were quiet for a while before he spoke again.

"Ahem," Fili cleared his throat. "I was just thinking, Kira, that it would be indecent if someone saw you as you were bathing."

"Mhmm?" she said. Kira wasn't sure where this was going, but Fili's demeanor had become more solemn, so she waited.

"If you would feel more comfortable with someone to look out for you, I'd be most obliged to protect your honor." When he saw that her brow was furrowed in confusion, he clarified: "Y'know, in case someone goes a wandering, I can tell them to get lost."

"Oh, I wasn't planning on taking my clothes off," Kira replied, "But I would be happy to have you keep me company, especially since Gandalf sequestered me from everyone else."

Happy with this response, Fili stood up and gave her a low bow, "Fili the dwarf, at your service, milady," he said with a smile. He held out his hand.

"A little formal for a simple nomad, but I accept your service, Fili the dwarf." Kira happily took his hand and stood up. By this time the rest of the company had trickled in, so they set off to the river together.

* * *

Once the party was well on its way, Gandalf took this opportunity to distract them from their hunger (it was now well into the afternoon and they had no food) by telling them what he knew of the man they were heading to see.

"His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer," the wizard started. Everyone listened in rapt attention, for they had never heard the wizard speak of anyone quite like this before. "He is the one who made the steps leading up to that little plateau we were dropped off on. I've never met him myself, but my dear cousin Radagast has told me of him once or twice. He calls the plateau the "Carrock" for that is his word for it and that is the one closest to his home."

"He's a skin changer, you said?" asked Bilbo, who was a little uneasy about the term. "Do you mean he is a furrier?"

"Good heavens, no, no, NO," Gandalf responded a trifle annoyed, "And don't ever mention that word as long as you are within a hundred miles of his house! Nor rug, cape, nor any other such unfortunate word." He glared at rest of the company to ensure he made his point clear to all of them. "He changes his skin: sometimes he take the form of a massive black bear. Other times he is a great strong man with huge arms and a long black beard. I do not know much else about him, other then that some think he is descended from the great and ancient bears of the mountains that lived there before the giants came."

Kira's eyes had widened at the mention that Beorn could change form into a great bear from the mountains. Could it be true? Could the old stories really be true?

"Gandalf!" Kira shouted to get the wizard's attention. "Are you absolutely sure he can change into a bear?" She had a tense look about her as she asked.

"Yes, I am sure," the wizard responded with a curious expression toward their normally quiet nomad. "Do you know of him?"

"Not him specifically, but of his kin," Kira said with her voice brimming with excitement. "I've been told stories of them since I was a child. The story of Tarro is one that everyone knows by heart. The Old Ones are our guardians."

"Hmm," the wizard had never heard of the story of Tarro, but then again he'd hardly heard much of nomad culture at all. Needless to say, as a student of Middle Earth he was most intrigued. "I'm sure we could all do with a story as we go, if you care to tell us, Kira."

"Okay," Kira happily agreed. She had missed out on having younger siblings to tell stories to, so she was happy to have a chance now even if not in her native language: "As you all know, I'm from the forest by the sea. To the west of us are the mountains. The story goes that Mother Mountain made the Great Bears, special bears with special powers. They could changes forms if they wished, but usually kept the form of a bear, since that is how their mother made them. For many years, they happily protected her from any evils that would try to harm her. In time, she made more children, though they were not so special as the bears. She told the bears to watch over her young children and keep them safe. In order to do so, the bears gathered many trees to make a forest near the base of the mountain. They brought the children, whom they treated as their own, to the forest and told them, 'As long as you stay in the forest, you will always be safe, for we will protect you and not let any evil in.' The bears also had us promise-for we are the children in the story-to take care of the forest from within and to love it as we did Mother Mountain.

The story of Tarro takes place over a hundred years after these events. Tarro was a young boy whose family lived near the western border of the forest. His mother had always told him the story of Mother Mountain and our bear guardians, but being young and naïve, he didn't pay her much mind. One night, he snuck out of the forest to see the mountain for himself. Unfortunately, without trees surrounding him, he got lost. He couldn't find his way back, so he sat at the base of the mountain and cried for his mother. His mother, of course, couldn't hear him, but our guardians did. A _shurryk_, as they are called, approached the boy, picked him up, and brought him back to his family with the warning, 'You must stay in the forest, stay with your family, or you won't be safe.' The boy thanked him profusely, but, unfortunately, had not learned his lesson.

The next night, the boy set out once more, thinking he knew the way back this time, but quickly found himself lost, again. Again, he cried for Mother Mountain to save him and again the same _shurryk_ found him and brought him back. This time, the _shurryk_ warned him that the world outside the forest was growing ever unsafe, and that if he left again, there would be no guarantee that our guardians would find him again. Alas, how unfortunate is youth sometimes, for Tarro went out yet again. This time, he made it a ways up the mountain before he tried to go back. Of course, he was more lost than ever so he cried for Mother Mountain to save him.

At this point in the story, it originally goes that the boy died as punishment for not heeding the warnings of our guardians. Some parents, though, change the ending to say that Mother Mountain embraced him back into her body, leaving him as a rock formation at the base of the tallest peak. The lesson is the same, though: don't leave your family and don't leave the forest."

Kira finished the story cheerfully. It was strange to be telling children's stories to adults, but she didn't care. She was happy to finally be of help in some way that was unique to her. She liked feeling needed.

"I don't see how fairy stories are goin' to help us much, lassie," said Dwalin, "Unless you've got any other information."

"Well," Kira replied, "I can speak a little of the language. Just the main phrases, but still, it might warm him up to us."

"Yer don't know that. He could try to kill us all the same." Dwalin was not so optimistic about this stranger.

"It's more than what help you can give us," Gandalf retorted.

"And what is the plan, then, Gandalf?" said Thorin. He did not care how they went about getting supplies as long as they did so soon. He was skeptical of any man who was enchanted in the way that Gandalf had described, but at the same time Thorin was smart enough to know that old stories are often based in fact. Maybe Kira would be of help to them here.

"We will introduce ourselves a little at a time so as to not put him off," the wizard explained, "Two at a time, I think. We'll start with myself and Bilbo, since he is small and non-threatening."

"I think I should go first, Gandalf," Kira interrupted. "Since you said you have never met him."

"I don't think it would be wise to send you alone," he responded.

"No, not alone," she clarified. "First myself and Bilbo since we look the most alike-"

"That's a stretch," Kili said with a chuckle. Kira ignored him and kept talking.

"-Then you, Gandalf, after I introduce Bilbo. Then the dwarves will come in when I fetch them, in the order I tell them to."

"Hmm…." Gandalf was considering the plan. He did not normally leave such delicate situations up to anyone but himself, but he'd never heard her sound so sure before. This may be an experience that she and Bilbo could both use.

"Very well," Gandalf said at last. "I will be near, though, should you need me." He gave his two non-dwarves an encouraging smile. Kira was pleased he trusted her, but Bilbo was a little cross that he had been volunteered for a possibly dangerous mission without anyone even bothering to consult with him first.

They'd finally reached the edge of Beorn's lands late in the afternoon. Big patches of flowers and clover were everywhere, each a different kind and all with giant bees buzzing about. The company was quiet, leaving the droning and buzzing of the bees to be the only sound they heard.

Inside her calm exterior, Kira's brain was buzzing more than the bees; she was so excited to meet someone from the old stories. But what if he wasn't a _shurryk?_ What if he hated dwarves? What if he simply didn't know who she was? She didn't know how long they lived for, or if they told the same stories to their children. But then again, what if he did know what she was, welcomed her with open arms, and she ended up saving the company after all? It was silly to think, but what if this made Thorin see her differently?

_No, no, _she corrected herself, _Fili. Fili, Fili, Fili. Not Thorin. Fili._ She had to be more diligent about that. Either way, it was all so exhilarating to think of what was waiting for them!

After walking a ways through the bee pastures, the company arrived at a belt of ancient oak trees, the gaps of which were filled with tall thorny hedges. After walking along this natural wall a short way, they finally came to a large wooden gate.

"Here, is where you will all wait," Gandalf said to the group. He turned to the gate and pushed. It would not budge so easily. It ultimately took the wizard plus Nori and Gloin to finally get the gate to creak open. They slid it just enough to allow the party in one by one. They did not cross just yet, though.

Gandalf turned to Kira and Bilbo. "Are you quite sure, my dear, that you are up to this task?"

"I am," Kira responded confidently.

"I'm not," Bilbo muttered. Nobody seemed to pay him any mind.

Kira noticed, though. She placed a hand on his arm and squeezed it encouragingly, giving him as warm of a smile as she could muster. "You will be fine, my friend," she said. "I'm sure you and I are probably related distantly, anyway. Beorn will see that, hopefully, and will take you in."

Bilbo was not convinced. "Have you seen yourself? We look nothing alike. And what does that have to do with anything anyway?"

"We come from the same region and we are nearly identical height," Kira said in a matter-of-fact fashion. "You don't think we could possibly have some distant overlapping relatives?"

"I suppose that is reasonable to think. That doesn't answer my question, though."

"If you are my family, then he is your guardian, too."

This comforted Bilbo a little for now, enough at least to not argue at the moment. He and Kira turned toward the large wooden house in the distance.

Before they could leave, Fili skipped over to her and gave her a big hug. Holding her tightly he whispered, "Be safe," in her ear.

She hugged him back and pulled away. "Of course I will," she said, "I'll be back in a few minutes to bring you all in, and you'll see me alive and well."

With that, she took Bilbo's hand and off they scurried toward the house.

* * *

Fili watched anxiously as Kira and Bilbo slipped from his sight. He was conflicted about whether he should have fought to go with her or for her to stay. He didn't understand how to handle her 'native' things when they came up like this. Was he supposed to encourage her? Discourage her? Care at all?

Thorin had noticed Fili's pained expression and had discretely moved to stand next him. "You know she will be alright, lad," he said quietly. "We are here if either of our burglars run into trouble."

Fili didn't say anything in reponse. He tried to put the fears out of his mind by pulling out his small throwing axes and turning them over in his hands.

Thorin was concerned, though, in spite of what he had told Fili. He turned to Gandalf and asked him to tell him everything he knew about Beorn, just in case this large bear-man turned out to be their enemy.

* * *

The house was truly massive. Bilbo and Kira had greatly underestimated how far they were: the large house played tricks on their eyes, making it look like they were close when they still had a ways to go.

As they neared, Bilbo was beginning to lose his nerve. After all, they didn't really have any idea what was on the other side of that door. Oh how he wished Gandalf were there to protect them.

Unable to convince himself to keep running, Bilbo stopped short.

"What is it?" Kira asked the scared hobbit.

"I just… I just need a moment," he stammered. His breathing was quickening.

Kira placed a hand on his back and studied his face with grave concern. "Is there something wrong? Should I get Gandalf?"

"No—I, um, I just. I just don't understand what we are doing!" he finally blurted out. "There is a massive—_thing_ on the other side of that door and you are just skipping along to greet him!"

"It will be okay. You heard the story."

"Well that's all good and fine for you, but we hobbits are not so chummy with massive bears!"

"You really don't believe he will see the relation?"

"No."

Kira sighed. She pulled her hair back to reveal her left ear. "Do you see my ears, Bilbo? Does this look like a dwarf ear to you?"

Bilbo stared at her ear. He could see a soft point to it much like his ears had. He was not convinced though. "What about our feet? Skin? Eyes? You don't think Beorn will be convinced by an ear, do you?"

"No, but look at the big picture: are there any other small humanoids in Middle Earth besides nomads, dwarves, and hobbits?"

"Not that I'm aware of, but then again, I'd never heard of nomads till you showed up on my doorstep!" Oh how he rued the day that had happened.

Kira couldn't help but feel a little insulted by this. She did her best to remain calm, though. "Just because my people never read or wrote things down doesn't mean we are so different. We live out in the open of the forest, you live in holes in the ground. You farm, we gather and hunt. You don't see how we could have had a common ancestor that chose different ways of living which then shaped our bodies?"

Bilbo was quiet for a moment. He was beginning to feel bad about letting his empty stomach turn his temper out on her. She made some valid points, after all. He just hoped now that Beorn would agree.

"You really can't read or write, Kira?"

"No." She turned her gaze down to the ground.

"How did you sign the contract, then?" Bilbo had a good memory.

Kira gave him a guilty look. "Please do not tell anyone. Fili signed my name for me. I don't want to upset anyone over it, though. Please promise to keep this to yourself."

"Of course," Bilbo said with a smile at last. "After all, we might be family, according to you." He followed her gaze down to their feet. "Albeit very distant family."

With that, they walked up the rest of the way to the massive door with a new confidence in their mission.

* * *

**Author: Sorry for the delay in this update. I had someone dear to me pass away last week and have been too distracted to give the story the attention it deserves. I hope this chapter was enjoyable in spite of this! I promise the next one will be on time. **

**BigMamaKat: Thanks for the review! Hope the chapter was to your liking. :)**

**reaverattack: Haha, I know you will love this chapter. =]**

**Only Purple: You are seriously too kind! Hope you enjoyed Fili's victory here ;)**

**SleepySandman: Thank you for your kind words! The story is far from over, so I hope you continue to enjoy my story ^.^**

**Guest (chapter 4): Meep, weirdness is relative. :3**

**Once again, thank you all for reading/reviewing/following/favoriting and otherwise being wonderful and supportive! You have all helped me keep my chin up lately and I greatly appreciate it. Have a lovely week!**


	11. Beorn

**Chapter 11: Beorn**

Kira knocked at the large door.

Nothing happened.

"You don't suppose he heard that, do you?" Kira asked Bilbo. They could hardly reached the door handle, after all.

"Maybe we should try knocking harder," Bilbo answered. He rapped his small fist at the door as loud as he could. Still nothing. "Perhaps he's out?"

"_Shurryk! Rou Shurryk!"_ Kira yelled at the door. Bilbo jumped and gave her a bewildered look.

"What on Earth are you doing?!" he cried. It sounded like animalistic growling to him. Before Kira could answer him though, the door opened.

A massive man with a long bushy black beard opened the door. He was so tall that even if Kira had stood on Bilbo's shoulders they wouldn't have reached his shoulder. Beorn scanned the borders of his fence. He nearly didn't notice the nomad and hobbit at his feet. Once he did, he was too surprised to say anything at first.

Kira was grinning with excitement as she greeted the legendary man before her. "_Rou shurryk, yom mer wlshuy bo chom rrerrl,"_ she said with a curtsey. Bilbo hastily bowed.

A hesitant smile broke over Beorn's face. "So long has it been since I've heard anyone speak _ul-shrruki _to me. _Rri grrar rou sherruka! Che na-skowa bi rou rrl._"

He swept her up into a big hug. Her whole head disappeared into his beard for a moment until he set her back down. Bilbo was at a loss for words.

"I will treasure this moment as long as I live," Kira said still grinning from ear to ear.

"As will I, my child," Beorn responded. He glanced at Bilbo and his dumbfounded look. "What brings you here?"

"It is a long story, _rou shurryk_, one that I am happy to tell you." Kira told Beorn everything, from leaving the forest, to the elves, to the goblins, to the wargs and goblins, and finally the eagles. Beorn listened thoughtfully. He was especially intrigued at how they'd escaped the goblins. He hated goblins after all: they were like a sickness spreading in the mountains.

"How did you escape those wretched creatures? I have never known them to be merciful," he asked with skepticism.

"That was largely due to the help of our dear friend, Gandalf the Grey. He mentioned that you might know his cousin, Radagast?"

"Ah, yes. He is a decent fellow as far as wizards go. I used to see him quite often. Where is your wizard? Did he survive the attack?"

"He did. He didn't want to intrude in case you were otherwise occupied. Bilbo, can you go fetch him?" Bilbo was all too happy to fetch Gandalf. He gave a slight bow before scuttling off.

Beorn watched him leave. "Are you sure he is a relative of yours?" he asked Kira.

"He is, though distantly," she responded.

"I suppose it would make sense. I've never seen _sherruki_ so short, unless my memory is failing," Beorn reasoned. "In fact, I haven't seen any for nearly a hundred years, now that I think of it."

"I wouldn't know about anyone in your lands, I'm afraid. I'm from the West, as is Bilbo. He is from the hills and I am from the forest just to the South, by the sea," she replied.

"Then it all makes sense, _rou_ _sherruka_. You are all welcomed here, of course, for as long as you would like. How many of you kin have you brought with you?"

Kira hesitated for a moment before answering. "I have brought my adopted family with me, _rou shurryk_. We are sixteen in total, including Gandalf."

"Sixteen?" Beorn asked with a tinge of surprise. Kira didn't have to be asked to explain.

"I have not told you why I left the forest yet, since it is difficult for me to talk about." She took a deep breath. "My mother went mad and abandoned me. I left to find a new family that I could better serve and protect. I found my adopted family at dear Bilbo's house. We are on our way to reclaim their home." Kira had cast her eyes to the ground with shame. She could never lie to Beorn, and she was truly ashamed for what she had done. "I am sorry, _rou shurryk, _for leaving my mother_._ I am unworthy of your love." She closed her eyes and waited for any punishment he deemed necessary to give.

"Stand up straight, child," Beorn growled in an authoritative voice. "You should feel guilty, but not more so than your mother should. No child should ever be abandoned."

"It is not her fault," Kira pleaded. "She sees things… she is ill."

"Regardless, you have my care, as your mother is unfit," he replied. Beorn gathered her up in another hug, this one purely out of compassion. Kira burrowed her face into his broad shoulder, like a small child would do to their parent. The thick wool of his tunic scratched her chin as she did so. He set her down once more. "Now go collect your adopted family. You must all be very hungry."

With a meek smile, Kira gave another curtsey and ran off to fetch the dwarves. She passed Bilbo and Gandalf as they headed in to meet Beorn. She did not stop, but waved as she flew past them.

"Thorin, Fili, Kili, Ori, Dwalin, and Bofur first!" Kira shouted breathlessly. "Nori, Bifur, Balin, Dori, Oin, Gloin, and Bombur after!" She had ordered them based on their manners and how well (as far as she knew) they liked her.

"You're back!" Fili exclaimed.

"It worked? Your plan worked?" Thorin asked her, a look of relief had spread across his face.

Their faces all lit up. It appeared that everything had gone well. Finally, they would get to eat!

"Perfectly," she replied, very proud of herself. "I told you he was my guardian. I've introduced you all as my adopted family, so please be courteous and act like you like me."

"Right now especially, lassie, we don't have to act," Balin said with approval. They all nodded. Knowing that food was waiting for them did wonders for everyone's moods.

"Thank you," Kira said, "Now all in order, as I said." She grabbed Thorin and Fili and pulled them toward the house. "You two need to be first." She let go of their hands but led them on to the house with a spring in her step.

Neither of them had ever seen her so excited; it was a little intimidating. She was still leading them along, talking the whole time. The dwarves gave each other a concerned look.

"He is absolutely amazing! Bigger than in the stories! He must be at least three times taller than me and he has the most amazing beard. So soft! I think you'll like him, since he is from the mountains and hates goblins, and you all are from a mountain and hate goblins. He picked me up and gave me a big hug, and dwarves are huggers, right? He is like a big version of you dwarves. I think that is part of what makes him so wonderful. I hope we get to see him as a bear while we are here. He must be a fierce warrior, indeed. This is just so wonderful! I-"

"Kira, stop," Thorin interrupted in exasperation, which stopped her in her tracks. "Now breathe." Her babbling was very unbecoming.

She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down. "Sorry," she said at last.

"It's fine, love," Fili said with a smile. "We've just never seen you so excited before."

"I'm so sorry, it won't happen again," she said. She was thoroughly embarrassed now. She normally had such good self-control.

Thorin put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look. "Just don't forget you've only just met this Beorn," he said. "Don't be so quick to give him your trust lest he prove to not be worthy of it." With a small squeeze, he let go of her shoulder and let her lead them on in silence.

Thorin and Fili followed after her, Fili slightly ahead of his uncle. He took her hand and squeezed it gently as they passed through the open door.

Kira let go of Fili's hand and led the two dwarves to the center of the hall. Beorn was sitting in a large chair next to Bilbo and Gandalf who were sitting on a bench next to his left. Kira perked up when she saw how casually they were all sitting together. She made a curtsey and turned to Thorin and Fili.

"_Rou shurryk,_ these are masters Thorin, son of Thrain and his sister's sons, Fili and…" She trotted over to Kili, who was waiting outside the door, and beckoned him in. "his younger brother, Kili."

The three dwarves bowed and each said, "At your service!"

Beorn nodded. "I don't need any service of yours. Please come and sit." The animals of the household had arranged several lower benches that were easier for his small guests to reach. The three heirs of Durin took their seats. Kira went about introduced the rest of the company in a similar fashion, though Beorn started stopping them short of pledging their service.

"Any guardians of _rou sherruka_ are welcomed in my house without pledging any service. Please eat and relax. You are safe within my borders," he said.

"We deeply appreciate your hospitality, nonetheless," said Thorin.

Beorn did not respond. He simply called to the animals in _ul-shrruki,_ which sounded like growling to everyone else, and went about setting a fire in the pit at the center of the hall. Sheep, rams, and an assortment of other animals brought in large flagons of mead, dozens of loaves of bread, honey, cream, plates, and bowls. It was a lot of food, even if it wasn't what the company normally ate. They were thankful to have an opportunity to relax.

Everyone chatted amongst themselves, some about what they would do with their share of the treasure, others about home. Kira was listening to Beorn tell stories about his younger days and of his family. The was the most she'd felt at home since leaving the forest and she was deeply enjoying it.

Fili spent the evening sitting by and watching Kira and Beorn. He couldn't help but feel jealous over how close she was to Beorn when they had only just met. He knew it was a nomad-thing, but they had pet names for each other and everything, which according to Fili was cause enough for concern. He felt better keeping an eye on them and keeping close by.

Beorn did not appreciate the way that dwarf looked at him, but he tolerated it since Kira didn't seem to notice. "So, my child, did you kill many goblins in your escape from the mountain?" he asked her.

"I did manage to kill a few," Kira replied, "Though I haven't had the opportunity to properly honor it yet."

"We should fix that," Beorn said with a smirk. "Come child, the night is young yet, and I know of a more private area nearby. We can build a fire there without being seen. Did you collect a piece of your kill?"

"I did," Kira pulled the bundle from her tunic. She was excited to finally be able to burn it; it had begun to smell even through the cloth wrapper. She handed it to Beorn.

"Follow me," Beorn took one more drink from his giant flagon of mead before heading to the door. Kira hopped up to follow and Fili followed right after her.

"You don't have to come if you would rather stay in the warmth," Kira told him quietly.

"I swore to protect you, Kira," Fili replied trying his best to cover the anger boiling within him. He nearly lost it at the mention of Beorn taking her to a secluded area alone. "I would follow you anywhere."

"Okay," she said with a smile. She took his hand and followed after Beorn. Beorn lead them to a nearby thicket of trees with a small clearing at the center. There was a ring of stones in the clearing, a perfect place for a fire. Beorn piled a few logs and tinder in the stone circle and quickly had a small fire started. He added the goblin hand to the flames once the logs had begun to crack.

Kira had gone behind a tree and peeled off her belt, tunic, and shirt. She felt a chill down her spine. She shivered as she wrapped her long discolored shirt around her chest and tied her belt around the small of her waist. This left her shoulders and upper back exposed while still covering her breasts completely. She folded up her tunic and returned to where Fili was standing by the fire next to Beorn. Fili had been keeping an eye on the tree she was changing behind.

Beorn poked at the fire with a long stick. It would be a while before it burnt down. Kira shivered in silence.

"Would you like my coat, Kira?" Fili asked. Her shivering concerned him.

"No, you'll be as cold if I take it," she responded.

"I have blankets inside," said Beorn. He growled to the trees. A sheep came forth and baa-ed. "Show the dwarf to the blankets," he said for Fili and Kira's benefit. He had already communicated this to the sheep.

Fili did not like leaving her there, but he followed the sheep anyway and planned to rush back as quickly as he could.

"I don't like how he looks at you," Beorn said as soon as Fili had left the thicket. "It's unsettling."

"He's been nothing but kind," Kira said softly. "I owe him my life, too." She was referring to the incident in the mountain pass; she was still under the impression that it was Fili who had saved her from hypothermia.

"That does not give him the right to look at you like he owns you," he responded sternly.

"I think that's how dwarves show they care," Kira reasoned. "They speak of their homeland like a possession, too."

"_Rou sherruka, _I don't want to see you imprisoned by a dwarf's greed. Caged birds don't sing or fly."

"Do not worry, _shurryk_, if he wants me, he will have to take me as I am. He has so far, I think."

Beorn grew quiet. It saddened him to hear her talk so naively like this. He felt like a parent who was forced to see his child leave willingly with unsavory characters. He had an ancient responsibility to her, though. He would not let her be harmed.

"You will always have a home here, my child," Beorn said at last. "Promise me you will come back here at the first sign that you are no longer happy staying with the dwarves."

"I promise," she said with a soft pat on his large arm. They watch the goblin hand as it popped and burned in the fire. It was getting close.

By this time, Fili has returned with the blanket. He had actually run from the house, but he stopped short of the trees and walked the rest of the way. He didn't want to seem too eager in front of Beorn. He went up to Kira and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.

"Thank you, Fili," she said. "We'll be starting soon, I promise."

Fili nodded and left his arms around her and the blanket. They continued to watch the fire burn down.

Suddenly, Beorn fell over onto all fours with low grunt. The massive man tore his tunic off as fur sprouted through his skin, quickly covering the scars on his exposed back. Fili pulled Kira back behind him and drew one of his swords. Beorn continued to grow in size, fur still sprouting up as his skull bulged about, steadily becoming more like a bear. The whole process looked so painful, but Beorn made no sign to confirm or deny this.

"Fili, it's okay," Kira grabbed his arm that was holding the sword. "This is what he is. He isn't going to hurt us."

Fili did not sheath his sword nor did he answer Kira in any way. His eyes were locked on the massive bear before them. The bear growled and let out a laugh that sounded like barking mixed with wheezing. Fili stood his ground.

"See? He is fully in control. Stop being rude and let him carry on with the ceremony." Kira had pushed past the dwarf and placed a hand on the bear's massive head. Beorn nuzzled against her hand in response.

Fili begrudgingly replaced his sword into the double-scabbard on his back. He was still not convinced that this was safe. "And what exactly is his role, then?" he asked Kira.

"Well," she said, her hand still on Beorn's furry head. "He is going to carve the design into my back, press the ash into it, transform back into a man, and wrap the wound." She gave Fili a hard look. He looked like he was ready to lunge at Beorn at any moment, which was not helping the bear's opinion of him. "You don't have to watch," she added.

"Don't worry," Fili said without changing his expression. "I won't interrupt s'long as that's what you want." He crossed his arms and stood off to the side, giving Kira and Beorn plenty of space.

"No, Fili. Please sit next to me. It will be painful at first and I'll need your hand." Kira kneeled by the fading fire and held out her hand. Fili took it and knelt beside her. She slid the blanket off with her other hand and gave it to him. Her back was exposed to Beorn once more.

Fili gritted his teeth as he watched Kira wince with each slice into her shoulder blade. Though Beorn proved to have a certain finesse with his sharp claws, Fili did not let his guard down, not even after Beorn had transformed back into a man and had bandaged Kira's shoulder.

* * *

"What do you think?" Kira asked. It was very late now, and everyone had fallen asleep in Beorn's house, except for their host who had gone out to patrol the perimeter of his lands. Kira was far too excited to sleep, and Fili was still wired from the adrenaline of earlier that night. This left the pair awake, sitting on the edge of the porch. Kira had redressed hours ago, but she was constantly touching her shoulder blade, as if to keep reminding herself that she was officially a warrior.

"I think it will heal nicely, love," Fili said with a smile. He had been thinking about everything that had happened that day. Seeing her so happy with someone else had brought out a side of him that he'd never experienced before.

"Thank you, Fili, for being there for me." She said. She genuinely appreciated that he has resolved to stay with her. Today had been the most time that she'd spent with Fili, and, apart from the one time the day before, she hadn't thought of Thorin at all. Perhaps forgetting her feelings would be easier than she thought? At least she had made some progress today.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he replied. Honestly, he couldn't imagine being without her, not after today. Butterflies started buzzing in his stomach. He stared off into space thinking about what this meant. It was killing him that he didn't know for sure if she cared about him in the way he cared for her.

Kira had noticed that Fili's demeanor had not fully returned to normal since they saw Beorn change skins. He was staring at the floor, not fully paying attention. His behavior was worrying her, so she took his hand with the intention of cheering him up. She was not a very physical person, but making more contact with Fili was part of how she was trying to get over Thorin. He squeezed her hand in response.

"Kira I need to ask you something, and I want you to know that no matter how you answer, I will be content with it," he said as he looked up into her dark golden eyes.

Kira's throat tightened. Her heart raced, but she tried to remain calm. "Yes?" she said in an even voice.

"Do you care about me?"

This was much too soon. She was not ready to confront this just yet, so she tried to hedge the underlying question. "Of course, I care about you," she said, feigning ignorance.

"I mean as more than your friend."

"I'm not sure what you are asking me." This was a lie. She knew what he was asking, she just didn't want him to be asking it. Not now, anyway.

Fili sighed. "I am asking if you would accept my offer to court you." He realized that she might not have the same idea of courting that he did, so he clarified again, "I mean, do you care as strongly about me as I do about you? Do you see yourself being my wife one day?"

* * *

**Author: And another chapter as an apology for the last one being late. Hope you enjoy! I know Fili fans will have. ;D **

**So, ****_ul-shrruki_**** is not a language by the late and great Tolkien, but a language that I made up loosely based on Russian grammar and syntax but not sound. I wanted it to sound like growls to untrained ears, since Beorn is described as communicating to the animals by growling. The phrases I used in this chapter with their translations are:**

**_"Rou shurryk, yom mer wlshuy bo chom rrerrl"-_****Lit. Translation: "My Guardian, we thank you for your care."**

**"****_Rri grrar rou sherruka! Che na-skowa bi rou rrl."- _****Lit. Translation: "You are welcome [here is implied], my child! Be not lost in my care."**

**Both of these are references to the story that Kira told the company in the last chapter. Kira contimues to call Beorn "_r_****_ou shurryk"_****, which means "My Guardian/parent/person older and wiser than me" while Beorn calls her "****_rou sherruka"_**** which is the diminutive form of female person, so means "my female child/small person". **

**Thank you everyone, for reading! Let me know if you have any questions/comments. I always enjoy reading your reviews. :)**


	12. To Mirkwood

**Chapter 12: To Mirkwood**

The following morning, the company awoke to find that Beorn, Kira, and Gandalf were missing. Breakfast had been laid out for them on the veranda and Bilbo and the dwarves ate it all happily. They spent the day relaxing, laughing, and planning for the next leg of their journey.

Kili was enjoying having Fili's attention again today. He liked the rest of the company well enough, but there was a significant age gap between him and the other dwarves that made him miss his brother. Fili and Kili were sitting outside on a low bench smoking and enjoying the sunny day. Fili was just telling him what has happened the night before, and Kili was eagerly listening.

"After that we just sat out on the porch," Fili paused and a small smile broke over his face. "I went ahead and asked her how she felt about me."

Kili looked distressed. "Why did you go 'n do that for?" he asked.

"It was killing me, you know. Seemed like the proper time," Fili responded, trying to sound matter-of-factly about it.

"But," Kili lowered his voice, "You're supposed to wait for her to ask you." Kili was referring to the dwarf customs, of course, where the female dwarf sends a proposal to the male who can accept or deny the offer.

"I didn't ask her to marry me, just… if it was a possibility." Fili took a long drag from his pipe.

"Well? What did she say?" Kili prodded.

Fili smiled as he remembered Kira's response. "She didn't say no."

Kili didn't seem to have as much of a reaction to this as Fili had thought he would. "Mum won't be happy," he said.

"She'll be happy enough just having us back alive," Fili replied. He hadn't really thought about it, though, to be honest. Their mother could be scary sometimes. Growing up the way she did, who could blame her for being tough? She was a fighter just as much as the rest of their family. "You really think she'll be upset?"

Kili smirked. "I know she will be."

"Just because Kira isn't technically a dwarf?" said Fili. "You've met her. You don't think she'll assimilate?"

Kili gave his brother an incredulous look. "Have _you_ met her?" he asked. "She'd hate it."

"Hate what?" Fili asked indignantly.

"You know… Everything," Kili replied, "Civilization, not having a beard, living under a mountain, living inside at all? Take your pick." Kili took another long drag from his pipe.

Fili shook his head. "I think you underestimate her."

"Whatever you say, brother," Kili replied. He turned and looked right at Fili. "What exactly did she say when you asked her?"

"Not much, something about it being inappropriate to answer right now, a longer bit about timing, and finally to ask her again after we've reclaimed the mountain," Fili smiled at his brother. "Most importantly, she didn't say 'no,' she said to wait. Practically a 'yes' if you ask me."

Kili laughed. "By Durin's beard, she's made you an idiot."

Fili chuckled. "Aye, a happy one at that," he said.

* * *

Kira could barely open her eyes as she clung to the fur on Beorn's back, flying over plains and through trees. They were retracing the path that the company had taken since exiting the Misty Mountains. Beorn was a stickler for details, and he wanted to see the proof of her story for himself.

"_Ossitol chrrsha!_" Beorn growled. She tightened her grip on his fur as he leapt right over the river in a single bound, the very same river the company had bathed in days before.

"We didn't walk past here," Kira shouted, "The eagles had dropped us off on the Carrock."

Beorn grunted and slowed down to a stop. Kira climbed off his back and stretched out her arms and legs. Beorn shook out his fur. Kira turned away so Beorn could change back. Without looking, she held out the bundle of clothing she had tied to her so Beorn could dress himself.

"This would be much easier if you were fluent, _sherruka,_" he said once his jaw had cracked into alignment. As you can imagine, Westron was difficult to speak as a bear. She turned to face him again.

"Sorry, our language has changed much since we last met any _shurryki_, _rou shurryk_," she said. Kira looked at the river and the Carrock at the other side. "Where do we go now?"

"Do you know where the eagles flew you from?" asked Beorn.

Kira scanned the mountains. It all looked pretty much the same to her, unfortunately. "We didn't go north or south very much, so it must be the mountain straight west of the Carrock. It is hard to tell because the roosts were hidden." Kira thought for a moment. "It would be easier for me to find the trees we'd hid in from the goblins."

"Very well," said Beorn, "We'll start with the pines due west of The Carrock."

Kira turned away again till she heard him grunt and stamp his paw. She turned back to him and picked up the tunic, shirt, pants, and belt on the ground. She hastily folded them up and secured them to her side once more before climbing up on his back again. She held on tightly as Beorn bounded off.

It was exhilarating riding on his back, just Kira and her guardian out in the beautiful day. She needed some time away from everyone after last night. She thought that Fili must be really unhappy after she had turned him down. He took it well, though.

Once they had reached the pines, it was easy to spot the burnt glade without stopping. The goblins and wargs had let the fire burn for some time, which left a much larger area destroyed than when the Kira was last there.

Beorn growled in deep displeasure. Kira couldn't help but shed a couple tears for the devastated trees. She climbed off and started a song for them. She sang all the while Beorn changed and didn't stop as she untied his clothing and handed them to him. Once transformed and dressed, he picked her up and set her on his shoulder. He could hear the vibrations from her voice as he pressed his ear against her stomach. Beorn had missed out on the opportunity to have his own children, so he was especially happy that Kira had shown up on his doorstep the day before. When she finished singing, he rubbed his face into her stomach.

Kira giggled as he set her down. She enjoyed having a father figure again. She walked over to what remained of the four trees that company had hid in. "Here, _rou shurryk,_" she said pointing to the charred trunks. "This one was the pine that Gandalf hid in."

Beorn inspected the remains of the trees. He turned to the rest of the clearing, taking in the scene. He could see the remains of the fire at the center and the many muddled paw prints of the wargs. The area stunk of warg. Oh how he hated those wretched creatures. They had no respect for anything.

Their ears perked. Something was nearby and not trying very hard to be quiet. Silently, Kira sprinted to the nearest living tree and climbed up. Beorn had changed back into a bear by the time she'd reached the lowest branch. She watched him back-kick his clothes behind the nearby stump and creep toward the sounds. Beorn had gone just beyond the far tree line when she heard a roar followed by shrieks and grunts.

Kira hopped down and ran as quickly as she could toward the scuffle. Luckily, she had brought her short sword with her and was just drawing it from the scabbard on her back when she arrived on scene. Beorn was crushing a warg beneath his feet, snapping one of its front legs with his powerful jaws. The warg's face was contorted in pain as it squirmed and snarled. A goblin was nearby clawing away from the massive bear, leaving a trail of black blood behind him; Beorn had ripped its leg off.

Once the warg was clearly subdued with blood starting to pool under it, Beorn backed off with one last growl and turned to Kira. The shocked look on her face stung him. He started to change back, prompting Kira to run off and grab his clothes. Once dressed, He stamped a foot on the dying goblin's bleeding stump of a leg. The goblin let out a shriek of pain.

"What brings your filth out in daylight?" he said. His entire persona had grown darker, much darker, such that it frightened Kira to look at him, especially since he was covered in blood. She kept her attention on the goblin.

The goblin made some unintelligible sounds and spat. Beorn stepped down harder. It howled in agony. "Dwarves! We are tracking the dwarves!" it cried.

"How many? Why? Speak!" Beorn growled.

"Thirteen dwarves, two halflings, and a wizard. They killed the Great Goblin and maimed the Warg Chief!" the goblin gasped. He was fading quickly from the gushing wounds. Beorn was not sympathetic.

"Some loyalty you have. It didn't take much to make you sing," he snarled. Beorn picked up the goblin in his massive hands and snapped its neck. It fell limply to the ground.

Beorn turned on the warg. "Do you have anything to add?" he growled. The warg barked and snarled in the horrible sounding language of wargs. It must have said something very offensive because Beorn flew into a fit of rage and strangled it. It gurgled as its eyes rolled back in its head. Kira watched its life slip away.

Beorn turned back to Kira. His expression had softened a little. "I won't apologize, child, because it had to be done. Hand me your sword."

"I understand," she said as she handed her sword over. It was more like a knife in his large hand, and he used it as such. She watched as he skinned the warg with masterful technique. He then wiped the blade on the grass before handing it back to her. She replaced her sword in the scabbard on her back. Beorn then ripped the head from the goblin's body. This he wrapped the warg skin around, making a bloody fur bundle. Kira knew that Beorn was skilled and powerful, but nothing is quite like witnessing it first hand. She was lucky to have him on her side, for she would not wish for her worst enemy to be on the receiving end of his wrath.

"What did he tell you?" Kira asked. Beorn had taken off his shirt and was wiping blood off his face from the original mauling.

"Just some unfortunate words about you, _sherruka_," he said with a disdain. He wiped his arms and chest with his bloody shirt. He picked up his tunic from where he'd tossed it on the ground and held it out to her.

"How so?" She pressed as she took the tunic from him.

"Unfortunate words because they got him killed. Come, my child. There are sure to be more patrols near by," he said, "These woods deserve better than this."

Kira didn't argue. She turned around and closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for the next few hours of catch, torture, and kill.

* * *

The next morning, the dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf (who had returned late the day before) were awoken by Beorn, himself, the first they'd seen of their host since their first arrival. He was in good spirits and full good humor. He'd laid out quite a breakfast for the company and explained where he had disappeared to the day before with their young nomad. Kira, however, was still missing

"It's a good story, and I shall think much more kindly of dwarves after this," chuckled Beorn, "Killed the Great Goblin!"

Now that their host was in such a happy mood, he told them many stories of his dealings with goblins and of Mirkwood. He patiently listened as everyone else shared their own stories of their homes and other adventures. Many stories were told and many songs were sung that day.

Beorn, Gandalf, and Thorin chatted for some time even after the impromptu party had dwindled down. The other dwarves and Bilbo hung around still, though in smaller groups and more spread apart.

After a few hours, though, Fili began to get worried that Kira was still missing. He discretely slipped out of the wooden hall and onto the porch. He walked around the side of the house but didn't see her there. He decided to check the nearby clearing for her. When Fili got to the gate, he found a goblin head impaled just outside and a warg skin nailed to the tree next to it. He gave an involuntary shudder before setting off at a brisk pace to the clearing.

* * *

Kira was up high in a tree, huddled up in the crick of a branch clutching her knees. Beorn had told her that he'd explain to the others about their trip yesterday, so after her morning ritual she decided to stay out-of-doors for as long as she could. She didn't have her usual routines of course, since all of her threads were stuffed in a tree back home, but she did have the adopted trees around her. She'd already made a loop around the clearing, discovered several birds and squirrels, ate some nuts, and was now taking a break in one the more comfortable branches.

Staring at a bird perched on an adjacent tree, Kira found herself replaying the scene between her and Fili over and over again in her head:

_"Do you see yourself being my wife one day?"  
"I…I…Um, I don't know if this is a good time to talk about this…"  
"I don't mean right now, just in the future."  
"I know, I just don't think any decisions should be made in the middle of a quest. The timing just isn't right, and I don't think you would like me so much once you are true royalty again."  
"I know I will feel the same way if not stronger. Has it crossed your mind?"  
"I just… Just wait till we've reclaimed your home and ask me again if you still feel this way. I do care about you, though, so I hope you will still be my friend."_

She had been tempted to say yes, but it was wrong to lie to him. She was trying very hard to like him in that way, but she couldn't bear the idea of being with him officially while she still had feelings for Thorin.

Thorin… The thought of him smiling in approval still gave her butterflies. His deep blue eyes made her heart flutter, much like his rich baritone voice did. She hadn't been around him as much one-on-one lately, now that she thought about it. Maybe that was for the best, though. She never saw herself as very good company, after all.

An entirely separate issue from her crush was that this was not how things were done back home. The nomads took courtship rituals very seriously, and never would she have been asked such an ambiguous question back home. Kira did not hold this against him since dwarves clearly had different customs, but the situation had flustered her, nonetheless.

Kira's head was swimming with emotions, and her stomach was a ball of anxiety. She almost felt like asking Beorn if she could just stay with him instead of continuing with the dwarves. She couldn't leave them, though. Not only had she grown attached to them and Bilbo, but she also had a contractual obligation to them. She was regretting not hearing the specific terms of the contract now.

Kira's ear pricked as she heard footsteps below her. She knew right away that it was one of the lighter dwarves, so she didn't bother moving. The dwarf must not have seen her though, or at least made no effort to get her attention. Whoever was down there didn't leave after a few minutes, so Kira finally leaned over to see who it was.

She saw Fili standing in the middle of the clearing, staring right at her with a soft smile on his face. He waved when he saw that she'd seen him. Kira sighed. He seemed to be in a good mood, which made her feel better about their talk. She stood up on the branch and jump straight out of the tree. Kira landed on the grass with a soft thud, her knees bending as she hit the ground to absorb the impact.

"So nice to see you in your natural habitat," Fili teased.

Kira smiled meekly. "Is it time to go back?" she asked.

"We don't have to just yet if you want some time to ourselves," he said as he reached for her hand.

"I'm sorry," she said as his fingers brushed against the back of her right hand. "I can't." Fili's hand dropped.

"Understood," he said. He didn't let this dishearten him, though. "We should head back, then. We need to be getting on with our journey."

* * *

The company had recovered well over these past two days and was not eager to leave right away. Thorin and Gandalf, of course, were the exceptions to this and Thorin particularly could think of nothing else. After all, there was just the forest and the lake that stood between them and Erebor now.

Beorn planned for the company to set out the next morning at first light. He would loan the dwarves and Bilbo ponies and loan Gandalf a fine horse to ride. Beorn would escort Kira himself; he hated to see her go so wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. The evening before they departed, Beorn told them what they needed to know about their journey to and through Mirkwood:

"Mirkwood is dark, dangerous, and difficult," he said, "And you won't find anything within its borders that is wholesome enough to eat or drink. I will give you food enough for several weeks that will hopefully see you through, and skins to carry water in. There is one stream there, I know, black and strong which cross the path. That stream you should neither drink from nor bathe in for have heard that it carries enchantments. Lastly, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, for ANY reason, stray from the path! You will never find it again. This is all the advice I can give you. I will not be able to help you beyond the borders of the forest, but I will see to it that you reach the forest safely." Beorn paused and looked right at Kira for a moment before addressing the whole group once more. "I wish you all speed, and my house is open to you, if ever you come back this way again."

They all thanked him profusely, of course, and gradually dropped off to sleep. Kira found it very difficult to sleep, however. She was now very conflicted about the whole expedition and about having left home at all in the first place. For this first time since she was very young, she had a genuine family member that cared for her well-being and made her feel like she had a home. She was going to miss Beorn very much.

* * *

That next morning, the company awoke very early and ate as much food as they could fit in their stomachs. They packed up rather quickly, and, with full packs, set off away from Beorn's house as a brisk pace. Beorn had warned them of the goblin's that may dare to continue their hunt at night, so they did not stop unless absolutely necessary. Beorn and Kira did not travel with Gandalf and the others across the open terrain. The rest of the company would not have believed that the pair had been keeping up at all if it weren't for Bilbo occasionally spotting the large bear off in the distance.

At night, Kira was returned to the company for uneasy sleep; howls of hunting wolves and cries of goblins could be heard off in the distance. Kira could not help being reminded of Beorn's treatment the goblin scouts two days before, and she imagined that he was dispatching them in a similarly merciless manner now.

Still, they rose the next morning unharmed and undisturbed otherwise. Kira was nudged awake by the massive bear and climbed on his back still half asleep. She was wide-awake by the time the rest of the company had mounted their ponies and rode off once more. This day went much the same as the previous one, with the one exception being that they reached the forest by the end of it.

"Well, here is Mirkwood!" said Gandalf. "Here is where we must let the ponies loose so they may follow their master back."

"What about the horse, then?" asked Thorin, "You make no mention of sending that back."

"That's because I'm not sending it back," Gandalf replied. "I have some pressing business to attend to further south. I will meet you all again before you enter the mountain, if I can help it."

The company muttered bitterly at losing their wizard again. Bilbo especially looked very disheartened at this development.

"Cheer up, Thorin and Company!" said Gandalf, "This is your expedition after all. Try to forget the forest, at least, until tomorrow morning."

Gandalf did not leave right away, however, and stayed with them for that last night. Beorn left with the ponies but not before he changed his skin temporarily to say his good byes to the company and specifically to Kira.

"Do not hesitate to return to me, _rou sherruka_," he said, "And send word if ever you need me. I will not hesitate to come to your aid. _Che na-skowa bi rou rrl._" He reminded her of his promise.

"I will be back as soon as I can. I promise you will see much more of me and my people if I have anything to do with it, _rou shurryk_," said Kira. She was held him as tightly as she could when he picked her up for one last hug. After putting her down, he changed back into a bear and led his ponies back home. This would be the last time they would see Beorn for several months, but Kira worried she would never see him again.

* * *

**Author: So how did you enjoy the chapter? I'm excited to hear how you guys reacted! ^.^ **

**Thank you, Dwarrow Scholar, for all your insightful information on dwarf culture and customs. I didn't use very much in this chapter, but you will see much more as the story progresses.**

**I used the following ****_ul-shrruki_**** phrases:**

**_"Ossitol chrrsha!" _****which means "Hold [on] tightly!" and  
****_"Che na-skowa bi rou rrl." _****which of course was from the last chapter and means literally, "Be not lost in my care."**

**To Reaverattack: I had not even made the connection and now that's all I'm imagining when I read/write those parts lol Hope you still enjoy the story!**

**To Only Purple: Hahaha, of course it is not going to be that simple! We have sooo much story still to cover. You are so sweet to say such things! I took the lazy way out with the language by basing it off of an existing one, btw, so I did not do anything too exceptional. :) Hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

**To SleepySandman: Thanks! Again, I took the easy way out designing it, but I am happy that it fit well. :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting my story! You are all so wonderful! :)**


	13. Mirkwood Part 1

**Chapter 13: Mirkwood Part I**

The company stood before the foreboding forest with a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs. Nobody particularly liked the look of this forest, but they needed to press on lest they run out of food before they made it through. Gandalf had left them right after breakfast.

"Good bye!" the wizard had said. "Take care of yourselves and don't leave the path!" He'd galloped off before anyone could say anything in response. The dwarves had mostly grumbled at him as he sped off, but Bilbo looked quite distressed. He didn't like the idea of not having Gandalf there to save them should they run into any trouble.

"This forest looks…sick," said Bilbo while they filled their water skins.

"Yes," said Kira with an anxious expression on her face. "It looks neglected and angry. I can't imagine anyone wanting to live in there." She remembered that Beorn had told them about the taller nomads that had lived in Mirkwood. He'd not mentioned what had happened to them, but looking at the dark path before them, Kira was beginning to think that her people had come to a bad end.

Once the packs were evenly distributed, Thorin led them on. The path was very narrow and difficult to follow, so the company was forced to stay in a single file line through the trees. As they went further and further within the border of Mirkwood, the air seemed to grow heavier and darker. They knew that is was still morning, but the sun was so blocked by the trees that they could only dimly see the path beneath their feet.

They had started off with a healthy spring in their step in spite of the heavy packs, but after mere hours their spirits had lowered considerably. It was laborious even to breathe. Once or twice someone tried to start up a song, but the woods seemed to glare back at them, which made them feel uncomfortable singing along.

"Keep moving!" Thorin yelled to the company. The air was thick and heavy around them and the gloom was stifling. He would not let their spirits fall so easily.

They could see shapes scurrying around in the dark and thick, large cobwebs covered the trees and branches above. Thorin could not shake the feeling that they were being watched and the odd glowing dots that occasionally could be spotted in the shadows only confirmed his suspicion. Many of the company had noticed the eyes increased in number as the day went on.

Once the wood had grown too dark to carry on, the company stopped, ate, and rested. Nobody spoke. They had only been traveling for a day, but their energy had been sapped dry. Several times, Oin and Gloin had set about to start a fire, but the light seemed to attract too many eyes. Thorin eventually had them put it out for good.

The company drifted off into nervous sleep. They took turns taking watch, though the watchperson had to rely on their hearing more than anything.

Kira , however, could not sleep at all. She felt like she was being slowly suffocated. The trees seemed to be alive and dead at the same time; their spirits were gone yet they grew out of control all over each other. She did not trust the trees to not strangle them in their sleep. Were the old _sherruki_ responsible for this? The whole matter troubled her deeply.

The next day went on much like this one, as did the day after that. Nothing particularly remarkable happened till the fourth day: it was at this point that they came to a large ravine.

Nori had been leading the group, but at some point near midday the pace had come to a complete halt.

"Why have we stopped?" demanded Thorin as he pushed his way back to the front.

"The path," the dazed Nori replied, "it's gone." He had stopped short right at the edge of the ravine and was staring at the lost path. Thorin looked at the edge of the ground in disbelief.

"I don't believe this," muttered Dwalin. "You've got us lost!"

"Quick, find the path," Thorin ordered. The company was so light-headed from breathing the heavy air that their looking largely involved puttering around and staring at the ground. Even Thorin was having a hard time maintaining his grip on reality. He stared down the ravine trying to remember what it was he was looking for.

"Up, up…" Kira heard Bilbo mumble under his breath as he stared up at the tree.

"Up?" she repeated confused. They had both forgotten what they were looking for. Bilbo didn't respond and stared up at the boughs of the trees towering above them. _Up! _ Kira summoned her strength and ran to the trunk of the nearest tree hoping to spring from it to the tree next to it. All the trees had high branches, such that Kira and Bilbo were both too short to reach the lowest branches on their own. Her foot hit the trunk with a light crunch as she propelled herself off to the adjacent tree's lowest branch.

She missed. She fell down and hit the ground with a thud. Without thinking too much about the consequences or to adjusting her strategy, she stood up, backed up a few paces, and ran again. Thud. She hit the ground again.

The dwarves were beginning to see what she was trying to do, though they were slow to act on it. Thorin was the first to connect the situation with action.

"See if they can see where we need to go," said Thorin. He called to the second tallest dwarf: "Dwalin! Help me get them up." The dwarves went each on either side of Kira and faced each other with their hands cupped at knee level. She stared at them for a moment not fully understanding what they were trying to do.

"Run," said Bilbo. He still had his wits even if his body wasn't obeying his mind. She sort of understood now.

Kira stepped back several paces and ran toward the dwarves. A step away from their waiting hands, she hopped up with both feet and, with the combined efforts of Dwalin and Thorin, managed to propel herself up high enough to reach lowest branch at last.

Kira pulled herself up, wrapped her legs around the branch, and hung herself upside down to help catch Bilbo. "Run!" she shouted down to the hobbit with her arms outstretched toward him.

Bilbo stepped back a few paces and ran toward the dwarves. He stepped into their hands and was pushed upward high enough to reach Kira's hands. She pulled him up onto her branch.

Bilbo and Kira heard a few claps and mumbled hoorays from below as they set about the task of climbing the very tall tree. The branches were not as far apart within the tree as they were from the ground, but they still had to alternate pushing one up and pulling the other up. Eventually they reached the thinner branches near the top.

They could feel that they were reaching the forest ceiling because the air was finally thinning. One final thrust upward broke them through the uppermost boughs and into the blinding sun. Their lungs swelled and a rush of oxygen hit their brains. They fog that was on their minds and bodies lifted immediately, like waking up suddenly from a dream.

"Oh dear," said Bilbo. I'm afraid I don't know how we got here."

"We climbed, I think," replied Kira still blinking rapidly in the midday sun. "Any end to the forest on that side?"

"Just trees and more trees," said the hobbit. "It's looks as though this forsaken forest doesn't end!"

"It has to end!" Kira lamented. "I can hardly bear the idea of returning to the ground beneath the trees, much less never getting out of them again." She looked around for any clues that they were near the end.

"Well, we need to head east, right?" asked Bilbo.

"Yes, we can continue east," replied Kira. "Surely this forest is playing tricks on us." She lowered her voice and leaned in to Bilbo. "I don't trust these trees."

Bilbo gave her a strange look. "I have to agree, but I don't think that you have to whisper," he said.

Kira shook her head and looked around one more time. "We should report back anyhow," she said. "I don't want to go, though."

"Neither do I," said Bilbo. "But the dwarves can't come to us."

The pair started back down carefully doing their best to retrace their steps they had taken to get up. Once they had reached the base of the tree again, Kira helped Bilbo down before jumping down herself.

"Well?" asked Thorin. "What did you see?"

"We have to be close," said Bofur. "We've been at it for days!"

Bilbo sighed. "The forest seems to go on forever and ever in all directions," he said miserably.

This upset the dwarves immensely and set off a chorus of complaints and laments.

"But the trees are playing tricks on us!" shouted Kira trying to ameliorate the situation. "They have been smothering us since we entered."

"We just need to keep going east," said Bilbo. "The forest has to end eventually!"

"He is right," said Thorin. He needed to see his company through this nightmare. "We must keep going if we are to reach the mountain in time. Fili, you have keener eyes than I. Lead us on and keep a sharp eye out for a path."

Thorin did a count of the company while there was light enough to see everyone. He knew that without a path it would be much easier to loose each other in the gloom. Fili and Kili went ahead to the lead.

Kira eventually fell to the end of the line. She was feeling very paranoid about this forest. She couldn't quite place her finger on it, but there was something very wrong about this whole place. The only creatures they had encountered thus far were black squirrels and glowing disembodied eyes. She felt better knowing that they company was ahead of her and not silently being picked off by evil trees behind her.

Evil. Now that was a word that she hadn't thought to use before, not once in her 67 years of life. Perhaps this was the appropriate place to? It certainly fit better than 'sick.' The trees seemed to read her thoughts, or at least gave the impression of leaning into their single file line. Several times she could have sworn that she saw the tree roots move just before she stepped over them.

Thorin was not far ahead of her. He seemed to be looking out for the company in the same way that she was. Kira watched him periodically speed walk up to near the front and make visual contact with each member then turn back and count her.

"Do you think we should stop soon?" Kira asked him when he returned again for the fourth time. It had gotten very dark and she could barely make out his shape in front of her, much less the rest of the company ahead of them.

"We will have to soon enough," he said without looking back at her. "But we should make use of every second of daylight as we can." He was using his walking axe to navigate the dark spots in the tree roots. As he stepped over a particularly large one, Kira saw the root's shadow morph as it leaned up.

"_Dar-tom balcum yrn! Okatabizr wer_," Kira spat at the tree. The movement stopped, but Thorin still nearly tripped before catching himself. He gave her a suspicious look.

"Are you cursing at me, girl?" he asked. Thorin was not at all in the mood. He had however recognized one word of what she had said, '_katabizer,' _but the usage was a bastardized form that he hadn't heard.

"Not at you," Kira replied, not taking her eyes off the tree as she passed it by. It groaned, or so she thought she heard at least. She hardly knew what was real or not in the gloom, but she was not going to be caught off guard by anything, not even her own oxygen-deprived brain.

The last remnants of light faded and the forest quickly grew pitch black. "Stop!" Thorin shouted to the company ahead. He'd just seen Nori's figure slip into the dark and he knew they had to stop now if they didn't want to lose each other. "We need to stop here for the night." He ran forward to stop the company from going any further.

"Wait!" Kira shouted. She was terrified of the idea of being left alone in this forest. The trees would surely consume her. She ran after Thorin and soon bumped right into him.

Kira running into him did not move Thorin one inch. He had stopped to listen intently for any signs of the company. When he'd ran forward he hadn't found the dwarves or Bilbo at all and was now trying to ignore the thick black air enough to locate the group.

Nothing. The only sound they could hear was their own breathing.

"Nori! Bifur! Bombur!" Thorin yelled at the darkness. "Bofur! Ori, Dori! Oin, Gloin! Bilbo! Balin, Dwalin! Fili! Kili!"

Kira joined in the yelling unsure of anything else they could do. Neither of them moved to search for the others since they dared not separate from each other. The forest was more still and more silent than ever.

"How could we have lost them?" Kira lamented. "We were right behind them."

"It's impossible," replied Thorin in disbelief.

"It's these damned trees. I should have kept my mouth shut," said Kira, "and now they've separated us."

"It matters not how we ended up in this mess," he said. "We have to keep going." He looked back at her and stretched out his hand. "Lest we lose each other in the darkness as well."

Kira took his hand and they continued carefully on in the direction they assumed was still east. In any other circumstances, Kira would have had a panic attack at the idea of holding Thorin's hand, however under the threat of suffocating in the dark forest holding his hand kept her calm enough to keep going.

After a few hours, it was clear that they had lost the rest of the company. Frustrated, they stopped at the base of a larger tree. They were lucky that they each had food and a water skin in their pack, though neither of them had a tinderbox or much anything else.

"I'm sorry," Kira said softly. She couldn't help but feel that this was her fault somehow. Her hazy brain couldn't quite conceptualize why, but the feeling was there.

Thorin didn't respond. He sat there eating some of the dense bread that Beorn had given them and stared off at the direction they had been going. He was thinking the worst for their fellow companions. The whole situation was very disturbing. Who knew where they were heading now? He knew that he had seen Nori with his own eyes, but when he'd run to him, Nori had vanished. His head was swimming.

"I'll take first watch," Thorin said at last. "You try to sleep. I'll wake you when I get tired."

"Okay," said Kira. They sat back to back with the tree trunk and packs on one side. She leaned on the tree and tried to go to sleep.

* * *

Fili had stopped once they'd reached a wide black river. He could see no immediate way around or across, so he halted. They had not altered direction, so he knew they would have to cross the river eventually. For now, though, it was too dark to carry on.

"We'll have to stop here," Fili said as he set down his pack. One by one the rest of the company stepped forward and did the same. He noticed that in spite of his remarkable eyesight he could hardly see them.

Fili went through and counted the dwarves and Bilbo by touch as the sat down and began to eat. He went through everyone again and came up short.

"Thorin?" Fili shouted. There was a murmur among the dwarves and they checked each other, looking for their leader. A knot formed in Fili's stomach. "Kira! Confusticate this forest, where are they?"

"I thought they were right behind me," said Nori looking behind him, as if he would be able to see them through the gloom. This started off a clamor of everyone talking at once.

"Well when did you last see them?" asked Balin.

"It's hard to tell. My head's been swimming," replied Nori.

"It's not a hard question, was it a little while ago or hours ago?" asked Dwalin.

"Did you hear them when we went around that bend?" Dori asked his brother.

"What bend? We've gone in a straight line," said Kili.

"The one past that cheese-shaped tree," said Bombur.

"What are you babbling about?" demanded Bofur. "All the trees look like trees."

"This isn't helping!" shouted Fili at last. "We have to find them. That can't be that far behind us."

"No use looking for them in this light, laddie," Dwalin said. "We'll just get ourselves lost."

"We could wait till morning," said Bilbo. "They have enough sense to not go too far in the dark, I think."

Fili was about to protest but Balin interrupted, "You have to do what's best for everyone," he reasoned. He leaned in. "Without Thorin here, you are our leader, laddie."

Fili looked around at what he could see of the company. Unfortunately, it was clear that there was no way they could turn back without getting lost. "Fine," he said. "We'll stay here for the night. I'll take first watch."

The company stayed close together and tried their best to sleep in the stifling darkness. Fili sat by the river listening to the gushing black water. He feared that some horrible creature had snatched his uncle and his love from right under his nose. If they didn't find them tomorrow he would carry that guilt for as long as he lived.

* * *

As soon as it was light enough to see more than a few feet in front of them, Kira reached her hand back and shook Thorin's shoulder. "It's morning," she said. They both stood up and stretched. They ate a light breakfast as they walked on to where they hoped to find the rest of the company.

They walked for several more hours before Thorin became concerned if they were still heading east. Looking up, they couldn't see any sky or clear light, only leaves and branches. The dim light didn't seem to come from anywhere in particular. He had to base his sense of direction on the trees.

"Do you think we should have run into them by now?" Kira asked.

"If they kept going last night, we may not catch up with them today," he said. He wasn't sure if they would have stopped to find them or not. They had little time to spare and few supplies to waste wandering around this wretched forest.

The pair did not talk much as they walked, since it felt like there was a limited amount of good air about them. Eventually it grew too dark to see any shapes again and they stopped. This time, Kira took the first watch and woke Thorin at midnight to switch. Though they tried to make themselves sleep, neither of them could. The forest had been far too quiet since they'd separated from the company.

The following morning, Thorin woke Kira up. He'd begun to doubt his sense of direction again.

"Can you check that we are still going east?" Thorin asked with a nod up to the treetops.

Kira glanced around. The forest had been largely made up of oak trees until this point, but more and more beech trees surrounded them now. She spotted one that she may be able to climb on her own. She ran and jumped, just catching the lowest branch and pulling herself up. She climbed up as quickly as her sore joints would take her since she was eager to breathe fresh air again.

She had hardly gotten half way up when she heard a commotion beneath her. She froze in her tracks, then crouched on the branch and peered down. She could not make out much through the branches and leaves that were obscuring her view, but she could see a lot of motion and could hear shouting. Without thinking, she hopped down and landed right on the back of the creature nearest to Thorin.

The elf yelped in surprise but quickly regained composure and pulled Kira from him by her hair. He held her down while another elf bound her hands. She finally stopped struggling when she saw that they were grossly outnumbered and completely surrounded by bows and arrows.

Thorin's hands had been tied already and the elves were in the process of searching him. They had already ripped his axe, Deathless, and other weapons from him when one of the elves pulled Orcrist from its sheath. It said something neither Thorin nor Kira understood as it tossed the sword to the only elf with yellow-white hair.

This elf was Legolas, son of King Thranduil and prince of the Mirkwood realm, not that Thorin or Kira knew this. He was turning over the blade in his hands when the smallest creases of anger formed on his face. He said something in elvish that neither Kira nor Thorin understood before pointing Orcrist right at Thorin's throat.

"Where did you get this?" he asked in in the common tongue. His voice was icy.

"It was given to me," replied Thorin. In spite of being bound and searched, he still looked regal and proud. Kira admired that about him.

"So you are a liar and a thief," the elf-prince said. He shouted orders to the rest of the elves while he personally stripped Kira of her daggers and short sword. He handed these off to another elf. "Two thieves," he said when he'd recognized the sword as being from Rivendell. Legolas shouted something in elvish to the others and they set off, dragging their two prisoners along.

* * *

**Author: Hope you all like the chapter! Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting!**

**So this chapter has my first created line of Kira's language: "****_Dar-tom balcum yrn! Okatabizr wer," _****which translates as "Stop, you miserable trees! Don't bother them." It is a combination of Sindarin (Dar and yrn), pure Westron (balc), Neo-Khuzdul (katabizar), and ul-shrruki (tom, wer, and overall syntax). **

**To Polly: Thanks! I'm glad you like it. I have I feeling that you will like the subsequent chapters, too. :)**

**To Reaverattack: Sorry this chapter isn't Fili heavy! Hope you still like it. He gets the opportunity to be a leader, though. :)**

**Have a lovely week, everybody!**


	14. Mirkwood Part 2

**Chapter 14: Mirkwood Part 2: Separation**

They were determined to find Thorin and Kira that day. Fili had woken the dwarves and Bilbo up as soon as there was any light at all in the forest. The dwarves and Bilbo had eaten a meager mouthful before they began planning. Nori, Dori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur busied themselves with consolidating their packs while Fili, Bilbo, Dwalin, Balin, and Kili were standing in a circle quietly discussing how they were going to go about finding Thorin and Kira without getting lost.

"We can't rely on the sun for direction here," said Balin in a stern voice, "so we will need to find someway to keep our bearings."

"I can't climb these trees, if that's what you are asking of me," Bilbo said sourly. "I could hardly climb up with Kira's help."

"Well, we know that this river divides the land," said Fili thoughtfully as he stroked his beard and looked out at the trees and river opposite him, "so we need to maintain contact with this landmark."

"We could sweep the forest in a radius from us," Dwalin huffed, "S'long as we keep visual contact."

"That radius won't be very far with these trees," Balin pointed out.

They all stared at their boots deep in thought. This was going to be tough.

"How much rope do we have?" asked Kili with a hopeful look on his face.

"Not enough for that," said Fili as he dropped his hand to his side. He understood right away what his brother was thinking. He remembered that they had taken a few good lengths of rope with them from Beorn's house, but they did not have enough to make lines that would go further than a few yards for any one dwarf.

"What about a vocal signal, then?" asked Balin. "We can shout every few paces and turn back if we don't hear a response." They all considered this for a moment.

"Might be the best option," agreed Dwalin. He and his brother looked to Fili.

"You're right, of course," Fili said. "That's what we'll do, then." He turned to the hobbit, "Bilbo, you stay here with the packs. Every time someone calls, you respond. Understood?"

"Of course," said the hobbit as he fiddled with his fingers nervously, "Though I suspect we should stay in pairs, just to be safe."

"Very well. Bofur will stay with you," Fili replied. The circle broke up and they relayed their plan to the rest of the company. Bilbo and Bofur stacked the packs neatly by the river.

The next few hours passed very noisily, and Bilbo began to wonder if this was a good idea at all. While the forest didn't seem to house wildlife that would out right attack them, he didn't like the idea of the whole forest knowing where they were. Also, if Kira or Thorin had been near, they should have definitely heard them by now.

In spite of repeating this plan again twice, each time further down the river, they had no luck. The light was beginning to fade and it was becoming clearer that they had wasted their day in futile effort. In low spirits, one by one the dwarves returned back to the river where Bilbo and Bofur had the rationed food ready.

Fili had been the last to return and in the worst mood. He was at a loss. While he didn't think that Thorin and Kira could have gone very far in such a short time, he also didn't believe that they would have sat still for an entire day. Since Thorin was well traveled and Kira was so nimble in the trees, he did not suspect that they had gotten lost. This left one of two options: either Kira and Thorin had gone further east and passed the river already, or some horrible fate had befallen them.

The latter thought was too much for Fili to accept. If they were any other people in Middle Earth, he would suspect the worst, but since these were two people that he cared for most, he preferred to think they had kept going. He voiced this thought to the rest of the company who agreed. It had not yet gotten so dark they couldn't see, so they resolved to cross the river that day and wait for morning to make haste for the East.

Fili and Kili scouted the riverbanks for some means of crossing, since the river was far too wide to jump.

"Mind you, Beorn said to stay out of the water," Balin reminded them. "Or some horrible enchantment might be cast on us."

The brothers peered forward as well as they could to the other side of the river. Though Fili and Kili had good eyes, they could hardly see the other side in the gloom of Mirkwood. It was Bilbo, in fact, who first spotted the boat at the other side.

"There is a boat against the far bank!" he cried as leaned forward as much as he dared. "If only it could have been on this side!" Bilbo pointed furiously at the far bank.

"Is it tied?" Fili asked as he walked to where the hobbit was standing. He could sort of see a dark shape that could be the boat. He guessed it was, based on where Bilbo was pointing. "How far would you say it is?" he asked.

"Twelve yards, I'd say," said Bilbo. "Could one of you toss a rope? I don't believe it's tied, though there is one way to find out."

Fili looked to his brother, who shrugged his shoulders and raised an eyebrow in response. "I'll give it a try," Fili said at last. Kili sprinted to the pile of supplies nearby and grabbed several ropes and a large iron hook. He handed these to his brother who was squinting at the dark shadow on the far side of the bank. He imagined tossing the hook to the boat several times before he actually took the rope and hook from his brother. He fastened the hook to one end of the rope and checked that the length was well over twelve yards. He balanced the hook in his hand for a moment then flung it across the stream.

Sploosh! "Not far enough!" Bilbo chimed. "A few more feet and you would have dropped it on the boat." Fili pulled the hook back from the water carefully as to not touch the wet rope with anything but his gloves. He threw it again, this time with greater strength.

"Steady!" Bilbo shouted. "You have thrown it right into the wood on the other side. Draw it back gently and, with any luck, it should fall into the boat and catch."

Fili pulled it back slowly this time and the rope went taut. Fili kept pulling, but the boat wouldn't budge.

"So it is tied after all," he said a little annoyed. Kili came to his aid and then a few minutes later, so did Oin and Gloin. After some struggle from those four, they heard a snap as the boat ripped free from the ties. The four dwarves fell on their backs and Bilbo was left to catch the boat before it floated off.

"Help!" he squeaked. Dwalin and Balin quickly swooped in and helped Bilbo to steady the boat.

"Good work, lads," said Dwalin. "Now who shall cross first?" The boat was far too small to carry them all at once, after all.

"I'll go first, with Kili, Bilbo, you and Balin," said Fili, "We'll check the far bank and signal the rest to come. After the signal, Oin, Gloin, Dori, and Bifur will cross with our supplies. Nori, Ori, Bofur, and Bombur will be last with the food.

"How are we going to send the boat back?" Bilbo asked after glancing inside the boat. "There aren't any oars."

"Give me another hook and another length of rope," Fili ordered to his brother. Kili already had another set ready and handed these to him. Fili threw the rope as high and as far as he could. He pulled till the rope went taut, assumingly because it was struck in the trees at the far side of the river.

"There," he said to Bilbo with a satisfied smirk. "Get in the boat and we will use this to pull us across. The lads will take hold of the first rope and use that to retrieve the boat once we've crossed."

In this way, the first boatload crossed over. They scouted about quickly since night was creeping upon them. Kili gave a long, low whistle once they had checked the immediate area. The second boatload crossed without difficulty, and Nori, Ori, Bofur, and Bombur pulled the boat back for their turn.

"Quickly!" Fili yelled. It was getting to be so dark that he couldn't see the dwarves on the far bank anymore.

Fili heard a splash and shouting coming from the other side. Fear seized him as he could only imagine that the sounds meant that the remaining dwarves had all fallen in the river, along with all their food. He cursed his stupidity upon realizing his mistake and waited in breathless silence for any signs of the dwarves. There was nothing he could do from this side of the river.

After what felt like an eternity, the company could see Nori and Ori pulling themselves toward the bank. Bofur and Bombur were wet and unconscious on the floor of the boat.

"What happened?" Dwalin demanded as they helped the dwarves out of the boat.

Nori was shaken. His eyes were wide and his expression was grim. "I-I don't know," he stammered, "One minute we are getting in the boat, the next Bombur and Bofur are scrambling off after their packs in the river."

"We only barely fished them out in time, else we would have been swept away ourselves," Ori added. He, too, looked shaken by the experience, like he'd seen a ghost.

"What about the packs, then?" Fili demanded.

Silence. The dwarves looked to the river as the answer to Fili's question clicked in their brains.

"Curse your clumsiness!" Fili shouted in rage at the unconscious dwarves that now lay on the ground by the river. He made a motion as though he would strike Bombur in his sleep, but of course he did not. He stamped off and punched at the air. "And curse my stupidity for leaving the food in your care!" He was especially angry with himself.

"How much do we have left?" Balin calmly asked Nori and Ori.

"Just my pack is left," Nori said in despair. "And that's only half-full." Just thinking about only having less than one pack of food to feed twelve dwarves and a hobbit for weeks was miserable enough, much less actually living it.

"It'll have to do till we get out of this forest, at least," Balin replied with a grim look.

Fili sighed as he calmed himself down. So far all he'd proven to be capable of doing as a leader was losing Thorin and Kira, losing a day trying to find them, and losing the food trying to get them through the forest. He was beginning to fear that this was only a taste of what the rest of the quest would bring as long as he was in charge of the company.

"Let's get some sleep then," Fili said bitterly to the dwarves and Bilbo. "We can't do anymore tonight." He turned to his brother, "Kili, take first watch."

They dragged Bombur and Bofur to their new camp area and arranged themselves to sleep around them. Kili took his post on the edge of their group after doing one last count (by touch) to ensure they hadn't lost anyone again.

* * *

It was just past midnight when Ori, whose turn it was to watch, saw lights dancing in the distance. At first, he thought it was the darkness playing tricks on his mind, but the lights only grew more vibrant as time passed. He was beginning to think that perhaps it was a campfire, or the light of several torches. It was hard to say because they were so far away, and yet Ori could see them so clearly. The lights showed no signs of extinguishing, so he decided it would be best to wake the company.

"Lads! Wake up! I see a curious twinkle in the distance," he shouted to the group. They each woke up, except for Bofur and Bombur, of course, who were still under their bewitchment.

"What is it, laddie?" Balin asked as he rubbed his eyes and walked over.

"Those lights have been blazing for a while," Ori said as he pointed off in the distance. "It might be other travelers, or a fire of some sort."

"What do you propose we do?" Balin asked.

Fili thought for a moment before answering. He was not about to lead them into another disaster, but if it were other travelers, it would be prudent to travel through the forest together, since they no longer had much food.

Oh how he wished Thorin were there to make the decisions and plans!

"If we go, we shall have to go together," Fili said cautiously. "We can't afford to lose anyone else."

"Reasonable enough," Oin yawned. The dwarves and Bilbo gathered up their few supplies and set out as quietly as they could toward the light.

Nori, Dori, Bifur, and Gloin took turns carrying Bofur and Bombur. Bifur primarily carried his fatter cousin. He felt a familial obligation to carry both of the sleeping dwarves, but settled for just carrying Bombur since Bofur was not as much of a burden on the other dwarves.

As the company drew closer, they could see a circle of fallen trees lined with torches. Inside the ring were a great many elves all dressed in green and brown, dancing about, eating and drinking merrily. There was a fire at the center of the ring and a table lined with many delicious looking foods. At the table sat two light-haired elves among a crowd of dark-haired ones. One of these light-haired elves had a crown of thin branches and leaves on his head and was clearly the king of these woodland elves.

The smells of roasted meat hit them all at once and they became overwhelmed with the desire to lunge forward and take the meat right off the table. It did not take long for the dwarves and Bilbo to lose their wits and rush towards the beautiful scene, even with two of two of them carrying Bofur and Bombur on their backs.

"Stop!" Fili shouted once he'd realized what they were doing. The elf king looked him straight in the eye before vanishing, taking the entire scene with him. In the newly blackened night, Fili could still feel the king's icy gaze on him as he stumbled around to find his company.

After much bumbling around in the dark, crashing into trees, and knocking each other over, the dwarves and Bilbo managed to find each other well enough for Fili to count them by touch. There was nothing for them to do but settle in and wait till morning. They were so flustered and bewildered by the enchantments they'd encountered in the past day that they forgot to have someone take watch entirely. They each leaned against the fallen trees and quickly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Bilbo had been dreaming of the smell of bacon and eggs wafting through his kitchen at Bag End, when he felt something sticky against his hand. At first he tried to wipe it away and return to his dream, but he found that he just kept feeling stickier. With much effort, he roused himself from his dream to find that he was being wrapping in sticky string by a gigantic spider.

With a yelp, Bilbo ripped his sword from his trousers and fought furiously for his life. The spider hissed in surprise and tried several times to stick Bilbo with his fangs, but the hobbit narrowly escaped each jab. With a lucky stab, he got the spider right in his eye and sent it shrieking and dancing in pain. He killed it with one more wild stroke. His legs shook vigorously and tried to bring him back down to the ground. His head was woozy as he'd never felt before, and he was having a hard time focusing his mind. He placed a hand on the tree to steady himself.

Looking down at his sword again and at the dead spider lying nearby brought Mr. Baggins back to his senses. Somehow killing a spider all on his own without the help of the dwarves or Gandalf or anyone else did wonders for his spirit. He certainly felt a fiercer hobbit than the one that had left the Shire, once his head had settled at least.

The dim morning sunlight bathed the surrounding trees in a soft, grim glow. He realized now that he was in fact alone at the base of the tree. He wiped his sword off on the grass next to him. "I shall call you _Sting_," Bilbo said to his sword as he placed it back in the scabbard, "For that spider did not expect you to sting so." He looked up at the tree tops and noticed, for the first time, that there was a pattern of webbing that gathered more so on one side than the other of each of the nearest trees. If the dwarves had been taken in the same manner that the spider had tried to take Bilbo, the webs were as good of a place as any to try and find them. He slipped on his ring and crept off.

It was purely by luck that Bilbo found the dark nest of webs in the trees. The webbing made a dark patch in the forest, like a spot of midnight that never went away. As silently as he could, which was very quiet even as far as hobbits go, Bilbo made his way through the thick webbing. Suddenly, he saw huge and horrible spiders sitting in the trees above him speaking to one another in creaking and hissing sounds. Ring or no ring, he very nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized that they were talking about the dwarves.

"It was a sharp struggle, but worth it," said one. "What nasty thick skins they have to be sure, but I'll wager there is good juice inside."

There were a handful of spiders gathered near several bundles of webbing. As Bilbo climbed quietly up, he could see bits of dwarf poking through the bundles of thread.

"They'll make fine eating when they've hung a bit," said another spider leaning in toward one of the bundles. Bilbo noticed a boot poking out of the bottom of the cocoon as the spider poked at it. The dwarf inside struggled and kicked much to the delight of the spiders.

"This one is alive and kicking!" the first spider cackled.

"Kill 'em! Kill 'em dead now!" said a third. "They won't mind if we start without them."

The other spiders made no motion to stop this third spider from approaching their prey. Bilbo saw that he had to do something now if he was going to save his friends. He hopped down and gathered up a few good stones from the forest floor and started chucking them at the spiders. He had practiced throwing stones quite a bit as a boy and was a fairly good shot. He hit the nearest spider square on his back, which startled all three of them.

While the spiders could not see Bilbo, they could guess from where the stones came from. With several hisses and cries they darted down the trees and headed toward him. Bilbo, however, slipped away to a different place as soon as he saw the spiders heading toward him. He would need to find some way to keep them occupied for a while if he was to have time to cut the dwarves out. He threw some more stones at the spiders that had remained in the tree and then more after the ones he'd hit initially. He started singing and dancing as he ran through the trees, invisible but infuriating to the spiders:

_Old fat spider spinning in a tree!  
Old fat spider can't see me!  
Attercop! Attercop!  
Won't you stop,  
Stop your spinning and look for me?  
Old Tomnoddy, all big body,  
Old Tomnoddy can't spy me!  
Attercop! Attercop!  
Down you drop!  
You'll never catch me up your tree! _

He had the spiders good and flustered now. He tossed a bit more foliage just to be sure the spiders would still look for him away from the tree before scampering up to the dwarves as quickly and quietly as he could.

Back up in the tree, he found twelve cocoons of webbing. The first one he chose to cut open was Fili, since he recognized the dwarf's long nose sticking out of the nearest bundle right away and because he knew Fili could be counted upon to quickly and quietly help him cut open the rest of the bundles.

Bilbo sliced with Sting lengthwise down the cocoon and slowly lowered Fili to the branch. Fili groaned a little as the blood rushed back to his head and he steadied himself. He moved on quietly to the next bundle along the tree branch. Between the two of them, they managed to cut the dwarves out fairly quickly. Some of them fell straight to the ground and were luckily slowed by the mess of webs below them. They had just cut out the last dwarf when the spiders could be heard creeping back.

"There is no time to explain," Bilbo whispered furiously to Fili, "I'm going to distract the spiders again while you lead everyone away. I'll meet up with you all very soon."

"You'll be killed!" Fili whispered back, a little shocked at the hobbit's plan to sacrifice himself, "We'll fend them off together."

"No! Do as I say," as he said this, Bilbo slipped the ring back on and vanished. He knew that he would have much explaining to do now, but as he'd said, there was no time. He ran off back down to the ground and started up his singing and rock throwing again.

Fili stared at the spot that Bilbo had stood for a moment, his mouth agape as if his words were caught in his throat. Once he heard Bilbo's voice, he came back to his senses and did as Bilbo had instructed him.

Down the dwarves went as quickly as they could, many of them still groggy and stumbling from the poison. Fili lead them away from Bilbo's singing as quickly as he could, but he worried that Bilbo would not be able to find them again. It was already midafternoon, and Mirkwood was impossible to navigate in the dark.

"Come on, lads, keep going," Fili stage-whispered to the dwarves as they ran past him. Fili followed the dwarves but hung back a little, scanning the trees for any sign of Bilbo. He had been looking back when he heard the shouts and protestations of the dwarves ahead. He turned back and stopped short. An arrow was pointed right at his chest and a second was drawn on the left side of his face.

The company had run straight into a small army of elves lead by a light-haired elf, the prince Fili recognized to be from the feast they had run into the night before. His face and body went rigid as the gravity of the situation sunk in. He clenched his hands into fists that stayed rigid at his sides as he was searched involuntarily and bound.

He now understood exactly what must have happened to Thorin and Kira, a fact that made his blood boil with rage. These elves would not have the satisfaction of seeing him beg or bargain. They would pay for what they are doing and for what they did to Thorin and Kira.

Bilbo, still invisible, had caught up to the company in time to see them be overtaken by the woodland elves. He ran after them as a sinking feeling settled in his stomach. How would they ever leave this forsaken forest now?

* * *

The events with the spiders had not yet happened when Kira and Thorin were escorted to the Mirkwood realm. They could only know (or hoped) that the rest of the company had continued on through the forest and were almost free of its malevolent energy. As soon as the pair had entered the kingdom, their lungs swelled with the fresh air in the caves, for these were not goblin caves or dark, dreary caves at all. These were the halls of the woodland elves, whom were very civilized in spite of the state of the rest of the forest. As such, their kingdom was beautifully kept and well lit.

As soon as the hunting party had crossed the first bridge within the kingdom, the two dark-haired elves carrying Thorin led him up while Legolas took Kira down to the lower dungeons. With her brain newly rejuvenated with fresh oxygen, she realized that this might be her only chance to negotiate with this elf who clearly had high status in this kingdom.

"We are only travelers, sir," she said to him in as respectful of a voice she could muster while being tied. He did not acknowledge her, but she pressed on anyway. "We did not mean to intrude, we only got lost. My people care deeply for the forest and-"

"I know your people," he cut her off. "And you may save your breath for your lies are wasted on me." His voice was icy cold and his face was completely expressionless. Kira went silent, shocked at how hostile these elves were being.

They had reached a tall windowless door that Legolas commanded another elf to unlock. He shoved Kira inside, cut her binds, and closed the door. Kira heard the pins of the door lock back in place and the elves walk back up the stairs from where they'd come. For the first time in a very long time, Kira heard absolutely nothing, and the silence was deafening. She rubbed her wrists, then her shoulder blade. Her tattoo had scabbed over and was now flaking off, leaving her skin very itchy.

The cell was small for a Big Person, but not terribly cramped for her. Kira had enough space to spread out on the floor beside the door without being seen. Light entered the cell from the space between the door and the ceiling, a crack only about 3 inches wide. This left several dark areas that she could easily hide in. The cell itself was completely unadorned and windowless. The only furniture was a bedroll in the far corner and two blankets. Kira did not touch these. She sat next to the door and waited silently, scarcely breathing, listening for any sign of or any word on where Thorin was. She was more worried for his safety than hers.

* * *

Thorin's face went taut and deliberately expressionless when he saw the elves separate him from Kira. Their behavior was utterly inexcusable. These elves should be offering hospitality to those who get lost in their miserable forest, not arresting them. He would not forget this. He would be damned if they extracted any information from him concerning Erebor, his company, or their quest.

After being taken up many flights of stairs and across many landings, Thorin was led straight to the elf-king, Thranduil, so easily spotted for his crown of leaves and thin silver branches. He sat upon a lavishly carved wooden throne in a splendid hall. Thorin was set to kneel at his feet, an action that they had to forcibly bend him to do.

Thranduil leaned forward in his throne and looked sternly at Thorin below him. "Why did your folk attack my people during their merrymaking?" he asked in a hard voice.

This caught Thorin off guard. He, after all, had no idea what the king was accusing him of. He narrowed his eyes at the elf, suspicious of his agenda. "I know not what you speak of," he replied.

"Do not feign ignorance, Thorin Son of Thrain, for I witnessed the attack myself," Thranduil said. His face had creased in annoyance and he glared at Thorin now. "I do not believe for one moment that you are innocent in this." Thranduil stood up and walked beside Thorin, as if he were studying him. Thorin said nothing. He only stared on ahead, refusing to give Thranduil any of his knowledge.

"Why are you and your people here?" the elf-king asked.

"We were lost." Thorin replied without emotion.

"More lies. We have your vermin guide, so there is no hiding that you are here with the intent to create mischief for my people." Thranduil stopped behind the dwarf. "How low the King Under the Mountain has sunk, indeed," he said caustically.

Thranduil turned to the guard. "Take him away and keep him in the lower dungeon till he feels inclined to tell the truth." Thranduil returned to his throne in a huff. He watched Thorin be dragged away and could not help but call out after him to drive his point further: "A hundred years is but the blink of an eye in the life of an elf!"

Thorin shouted back angrily in Khuzdul knowing full well that the elves would not understand. He was too angry to form appropriate words in the common tongue.

Thorin was dragged down many stairs, so many that he knew he must be far away from the entrance and deep within the elf caves. Once they'd approached the lowest dungeon, one of the guards unlocked a large, thick door while another cut Thorin's binds and stripped him of his coat and mail. He was left with nothing but his pants, boots, and shirt and was shoved into the cell. The door locked behind him.

Thorin walked forward to the opposite wall, put his back against it, and slid down with a sigh. He could not begin to imagine how he would escape from this, nor what they had done with Kira. He looked around the dimly cell. Thorin had only just noticed the bedroll and blankets off to his right when he heard a familiar voice from the shadows.

"Thorin?" Kira whispered as she stood up and went to him. A smile of relief broke across his face as he stood up and hugged her tightly. She was overjoyed to see that he was unharmed. They may be captured by enemy elves with no means of escaping, but at least they were together and each knew that the other was safe.

* * *

**Author: Sorry for the delay; this ended up being a pretty lengthy chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! I look forward to your comments. :)**

**To Guest Reviewer:**

**Chapter 7-True, but they were lucky that that didn't happen. :)  
Chapter 8-Haha, as with that reviewer, I can't really answer without giving something away, but I am happy you are enjoying the story. :D  
Chapter 9-Hmm, I hadn't actually thought about Kira's infatuation with Thorin as being like the hero-worship that Eowyn had for Aragorn, but I do see the parallels now that you mention it (maybe and unconscious thing on my part .). Though, the reason why Kira likes him so much will become more apparent as she grows to understand her feelings more, and it will prove to be very different from the Eowyn/Aragorn dynamics.  
Chapter 10- D'aww thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to review each chapter, so no apologies needed! I'm glad you like the back story. I've always felt that Beorn was a gaping hole in Tolkien's works (I mean, he inexplicably finds men that can turn into bears after BoFA, after all) and I wanted my OC's back story and people's history to fill some of that hole. That's what FanFiction is for, after all! I am just happy that other people like my version of it. ^.^  
Chapter 11- Haha, neither did I :) Yes, Kira is a little naive since her people stay even more secluded than hobbits. On the topic of the possessiveness, there is actually a long answer to why I chose to have Fili exhibit his affection for her in that way. Dwarf women are rarely seen outside of dwarf kingdoms and are guarded very fiercely. However, they are also are the ones to initiate marriage proposals, rather than the males, which tells me that marriage isn't the wife becoming property of her husband as the guarding would lead you to think. Since Tolkien has written the primary characteristic of a dwarf to be greed, as other characters describe it, anyway, I extended that to other domains of their lives including their women. I imagine that dwarf men guard their women so fiercely out of love rather than possession, since dwarf women do have the upper hand domestically and ther eare so few of them in the first place. This is entirely different from nomad culture, of course, so the depth of Fili asking that vague question of her is lost on Kira.  
Chapter 12- Thanks! And yes, she has already shown that she has a high tolerance for pain, so what's a little tattoo? :)  
Chapter 13-So, they do recognize her, they just aren't on friendly terms. Since this note is already rather long, I'll include the reason behind that at the end of the next chapter, which would answer your question about the trees as well. I normally write very dense and technical psychology papers, actually. This is the first time I've written a narrative in at least six years, so any and all feedback or suggestions to improve my writing are very much appreciated! I will definitely take your suggestion and try to work more on the details in the dialogue scenes. As far as Kira's infatuation with Thorin, you'll see more about that soon. :) Lol, yeah I thought the brooding was a bit much in the movies, but at the same time Thorin went through a lot of shit all at once starting in his 50s, so basically when he was an adolescent in dwarf years. He definitely would have some issues as he got closer to the mountain, so I decided to reconcile the two versions of him into a (hopefully) more believable character by using the diathesis-stress model of psychopathology.**

**Thank you so much for your thoughtful reviews! I am happy that you feel my story is good enough to think on so much. I very much look forward to your reactions to this chapter!**

**To SleepySandman: Thank you! You are always so kind. I hope to use more of her language as the story goes on. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**To Reaverattack: Lots of Fili in this chapter! Though not much Kira. I will explain why the trees are so spiteful at the end of the next chapter. :) Hope you enjoyed!**

**As always, thank you all for favoriting/following/reviewing/reading! And thank you, Dwarrow Scholar, for all your dwarf-related knowledge :D**


	15. Mirkwood Part 3

**Chapter 15: Mirkwood Part 3- Confinement**

Kira and Thorin had realized after their first day locked in the cell that the elves had not meant to place them together. Kira had spent much of that first day listening through the door and trying to see through the narrow space at the top. She had managed to suspend herself across the corner of the cell at the upper left corner of the door for a few minutes before her arms gave out and she fell to the floor. She and Thorin thought it would be best that she not try that again, otherwise she might break something next time she fell. In place of this observation, she hid in the shadow at the corner of the cell whenever she heard footsteps approaching. The elves never made any motion to expect to see anyone but Thorin when they opened the door to give him food. They scarcely gave enough food for him, let alone for Kira.

"We could play this to our advantage," she said once she was confident that the elves who had brought Thorin's dinner were far away. She stepped out of the corner and stretched her arms as she approached Thorin again. She sat down a few feet away from him with her back against the wall. "Since they don't seem to know I'm here, we could use this in a plan to escape."

"Aye, we could," he replied as he handed her some of the bread he'd received for dinner. She pushed his hand back.

"Please, you should eat it. I had enough for lunch," she said. She pulled her knees up and hugged them. Thorin furrowed his brow in a concerned look.

"You've hardly eaten anything and you expect me to eat your portion?" he said.

"I don't eat as much as you do," she explained. "And you gave me too much food at lunch."

"Too much?" he said skeptically. "If you insist. I suppose I've never seen you eat very much, now that I think of it." He ate the bread slowly, almost like he was expecting her to change her mind and ask for it back. She didn't.

"We don't waste anything back home," she said looking up at the dark ceiling, imagining the stars that must be shining outside. "And our bodies are more efficient for it."

Thorin looked at her thoughtfully. Her face had become very young, almost childlike, as she looked up at the ceiling with wonder in her eyes. It had suddenly made him curious as to what she could be thinking of to get lost so easily. "If you don't mind my asking," he started, "what are you thinking of?"

She looked down at the floor for a moment before looking at him. She gave him a wry smile. "I'm thinking how, if I were back home, I would be migrating with my mother to the winter side," She looked down at her hands thoughtfully. "So strange how that just came into my mind all of a sudden." She paused for a moment. She looked at the door, newly focused. "We should talk about an escape plan," she said with a decisive look on her face.

"Well," said Thorin as he followed her gaze to the door. "We must first learn of our enemy. There is no use in trying to leave this cell only to be caught right outside."

"Very true," she replied. "I will keep listening at the door for any movement." She sprang up and stepped over. Kira sat down and leaned to listen at the door.

Kira stood still as a statue for nearly an hour. Though she heard nothing, she did not move from her post until Thorin laughed at her. His deep rich laughter had broken the still silence so abruptly that she nearly jumped out of her skin. She let out a small squeak, which only served to fuel his laughter. Kira turned a dark red in embarrassment.

"My apologies," he said, a grin still spread across his face. "You had been still for long, I thought you had become one with the stone. Then I thought to myself, 'So this is how nomads have hidden from us for so long.' You blend in so well!"

Kira laughed nervously at first, but looking at Thorin's happy face, the slight creases on the corners of his eyes from laughing, melted her into an honest laughing of joy. She was happy he was here to cut through the gloom. She was worried that she would not fare well in the dark for so long, but she knew now she would be safe.

"I don't think they will be returning tonight," she said as she walked across the small cell and picked up one of the blankets. "There is nothing left but to sleep." She took it to the dark corner and laid it down. Thorin watched as she lied down and curled up to sleep on the blanket. He shook his head and stood up. He stretched a little and walked the ten steps to where the other blanket was next to the bedroll.

"You will take the bed, Kira," he said as he grabbed the other blanket and headed back to the corner facing the door. Kira lifted her head and looked like she was about to protest but he cut her off. "I insist. I will not leave a lady on the floor while I sleep in small comfort." He laid out the blanket and sat on it with his feet out in front of him and his arms crossed.

Begrudgingly, Kira stood up and moved the bedroll so it was parallel to the wall adjacent to Thorin. She peeled off her slippers, battered, torn, and mangled as they were, lied down on the thin mattress, and pulled the blanket toward her. She was about to get comfortable when she stopped herself and sat up.

"What is it?" Thorin asked softly. He'd not taken his eyes off of her. Her mannerisms were most amusing to him. He hadn't noticed this before, probably because he hadn't had the opportunity or the desire to pay so close attention to her. There was a graceful quality to her movements that he couldn't help but enjoy.

She looked over to him. A crease formed in her brow and the corners of her mouth pulled down in a slight frown. "Do you think we will see the others again?" she asked.

"Not today, and probably not tomorrow," Thorin replied in a grave voice. He looked down at his feet in front of him, and then gave her a warm smile. "But I know we will," he said encouragingly.

Somewhat satisfied with this response, Kira lied back down. "Good night," she wished him as she turned over on her side to face the wall.

"Good night," Thorin whispered. He did not lie down, however. He still wanted to remain on his guard just in case the elves bothered them in the early hours of the morning. He would try to sleep sitting up, as he often did in situations that required him to be constantly vigilant because it kept him from falling too deep into sleep, which also helped him avoid dreaming entirely. He hoped dearly that the rest of the company had made it out of the forest alive and had not gotten lost trying to find them. Judging from what they saw of the Mirkwood realm on their way in, it would take nothing short of a miracle for he and Kira to escape unaided.

After several hours, Thorin felt the soreness of his muscles at last, and slowly his eyelids grew too heavy to keep open any longer. Unwillingly, he fell into a deep sleep.

Kira could not sleep well at all no matter how hard she tried; she was still processing the events of the day. It scared her how discourteous the elves had behaved toward her and Thorin. She could not imagine what kind of history these woodland elves must have had with her distant relations, but she could tell that it had not ended well. Could the elves be responsible for the extinction or otherwise displacement of the Mirkwood nomads? She shuddered at the thought.

Unbeknownst to her, the Mirkwood elves had a rather complicated history with the nomads that had lived in the forest many years before. To make a long story shorter, for many years the elves and nomads had coexisted largely unaware of each other, for the nomads typically stayed in the southern Greenwood, as it had been called before the darkness came, while the elves preferred the beech trees of the north. When Sauron had first entered the Greenwood under the guise of the Necromancer, he pushed the nomads out and into the awareness of the elves. Nomads are not warriors at heart and did not fight Sauron's influence, though it grieved them to see the forest warped under his evil. The nomads were forced further and further into the Mirkwood realm, along with the spiders and other dark creatures of Sauron's influence.

The elves, then, always associated the coming of the nomads with the coming of the sickness of the forest and pushed them back out. Without anything wholesome to eat nor trees kind enough to live in or under, the nomads were forced to leave, steal, or starve. As the last of the nomads died out, the only encounters the elves had with them had been arresting them for stealing or finding their corpses. The trees remained angry by how easily and quickly the nomads had abandoned them, and it was by their mischief that Kira and Thorin were separated in the first place.

Eventually Kira fell into a light sleep, the troubling circumstances always in the back of her mind. She slept quietly and motionlessly till the early hours of the next morning.

* * *

The next morning, Kira and Thorin both woke very early. During the day, Kira continued to stay in the shadows while the elves were near and listened at the door when they left. She and Thorin found that they were largely ignored apart from mealtimes, leaving them with much time and little to do but think, talk, or sleep.

"I have to admit," Kira said that afternoon while she leaned against the door. "We do not have much information concerning the outside this cell that would aid in our escape." She was sitting down with her back to the door, her knees pulled up to her chest, and her hands undoing her braids. Thorin was standing opposite her, stretching.

"True," Thorin said thoughtfully. "But we must not give up hope. They will make a mistake one day, and we will take advantage of it."

They were silent for a little while more. Though Thorin had not voiced this to Kira, he knew any sort of escape plan would be extraordinarily difficult without knowledge of outside. He trusted Kira's hearing, but he knew that elves could be silent when they wanted to be. They could not trust quiet to mean that there were no guards posted outside.

"Do you know any games, Thorin?" Kira asked. She was hoping for a distraction from the gloomy silence. Re-braiding her hair was second nature to her, so it did not serve to take her mind off of their situation.

"None that I care to play here," he said with a grim expression. He understood that she wanted to talk, though, so he redirected the conversation. "Tell me about your home," he said. He was sat across from her with one arm on one bent knee. His other knee was bent perpendicular, resting on the floor.

Kira perked up. "Oh, what would you like to know?" she asked a little hesitantly.

"Anything you would like to tell me," he replied with a warm smile. "What would you be doing if you were there now?"

"Well, as I said before, during the autumn we relocate to the southwestern portion of the forest, so I suppose I would be moving with my mother or on my own." Kira thought back to the year before. She remembered the winterberries beginning to bloom and how some of the trees would have changed color by now. Another thought struck her, and she remembered the other option for her, given her age. "Oh, except this year I should have traveled to the northwest to converse with the others of my age and engage in the festivities."

This intrigued Thorin. "What is the occasion, if you don't mind my asking?" he said.

"The festival of the Blood Moon," Kira replied matter-of-factly. "It is when the moon turns a fiery red and shine large and brightly in the sky. We have many traditions for this moon, for she gives us fertility and tells us of our _rhekh_, our One." Kira smiled down at the floor as she remembered the beautiful red moon from the year before. It shone for three nights in a row, but not so brightly as it did the first night.

"I've seen that moon before," Thorin said in a somber voice, "We dwarves may not love it as you do, but I've admired its beauty many times on my travels."

"It's quite a sight to behold," Kira agreed. She tied off her hair. She had braided it a few larger braids, this time, which she then braided together into one large braid. Since she was out of the elements for the time being, she left it a little looser than she normally did.

"I take it she has yet to tell you your 'One' since your hair is not cut," Thorin said, remembering their conversation in Elrond's house.

"I have yet to attend," Kira said a little sheepishly. She absent-mindedly stroked then end of her braid. She studied him for a moment before continuing. "My family left the rest of our nation, if you remember, and I haven't had the heart to brave the trip on my own." She looked back down at her hands then back at Thorin with a wry smile. "Though I suspect I will when I return, if I am not otherwise engaged by then."

Thorin gave a light chuckle. "I suspect that you will return to find yourself a much different woman than the one that left."

_Indeed, I am_, she thought to herself. After all, Thorin much less intimidated her now than when she'd first met him.

"Please tell me more about dwarf culture," Kira asked with a bright voice. "What do you love most?"

Thorin started by telling her the story of his ancestors, the legend of Durin the Deathless and the founding of Khazad-dum. Kira listened quietly, watching the subtle changes in Thorin's expression as he talked about his people. Kira happily told him stories about her father and folktales of her people. Thorin's expression grew softer as he talked about his siblings when they were younger, before his brother had died. They talked about each other's histories and customs for many hours. They only stopped when the elves returned with dinner. Kira retreated to the dark corner when she heard them approaching and sat next to Thorin once they'd left.

They ate in silence, both thinking about all the stories and memories their talk brought up. Kira rubbed her shoulder blade in an attempt to assuage the itchiness. It was getting harder and harder to resist scratching her tattoo. Rubbing helped distract her from the itching a little, but it was getting worse.

"Is your shoulder alright?" Thorin asked after they had finished eating. He'd notice her rub it several times now.

"I'm fine, thank you," Kira replied with a shy smile. "Beorn said it would itch while it healed."

"While what healed?" Thorin watched her stand up and walk to the opposite corner of the cell. She turned slightly to look back at him over her shoulder.

"Face away, please," she said. She watched him turn his back to her.

Kira quickly removed her tunic and the tattered remains of her shirt. She tore a strip of cloth from her shirt and tied the back of the tunic by putting the strip of cloth through each arm hole and tying it. She then put the tunic back on and tied her cloth belt firmly. This left her completely covered except for her arms and her shoulder blades. She sighed in relief as the cool air washed over her scabbing tattoo. It did not completely stop the itchiness, but it helped immensely.

"Okay, you can look now," She said as she sat down a few feet away from Thorin, her back angled toward him so she could see his face over her shoulder. She was anxious to see his reaction. After all, Fili was very upset during the whole process of getting the tattoo, even though he had said it was okay by dwarf standards when they were with the Eagles. She watched him shift back to face her. He gave her a quizzical look, tilting his head a little to one side and furrowing his brow.

"What is it?" he asked. It didn't look like any rune letter he'd seen before.

"A warrior's mark," Kira replied. She placed her hand on her shoulder to feel along the scabbing lines. "I told you a little about my father. He has nine of these, eight of which are arranged in a circular pattern on his right shoulder, and one on his left shoulder blade. There is one for each life that is taken in the defense of our family." She realized that this might give a false impression of her people, that they were violent. Kira quickly clarified, "But his case is unusual. Most of us don't have any."

"If you are anything like him, I am sure he did not take them lightly," Thorin said as he straightened up with his back to the wall once more. Kira gingerly leaned back. Her irritated shoulder felt suddenly relieved against the cold stone of the cell. She closed her eyes and tried her best to preserve this feeling.

* * *

It was very early that next morning that Kira awoke suddenly. The itching in her shoulder blade had become unbearable. She sat up and leaned back, placing her sore shoulder directly on the cold stone. She closed her eyes and let out a silent sigh of relief. Kira blinked to refocus her eyes. The cell was still dimly lit, as it always was, in spite of the fact that it was pitch black in the forest beyond the walls of the Woodland Realm. The lack of variability in the lighting was beginning to irritate her. She missed being outside.

She heard grumbles and looked over to the far wall where Thorin was sleeping. He sounded like he was in distress, so Kira stood up and quietly crept closer to him. She crouched down next to him and saw now that his face was contorted and that there were beads of sweat along his temples. He looked like he was having a nightmare. He continued to grumble unintelligibly.

"Thorin?" she whispered. She wasn't sure if she should wake him or not, but she didn't want to leave him there in anguish. He grunted slightly and shifted around, his hands opening and closing like he was grasping for something. Without thinking, she grabbed his hand and held it tightly in both of hers. He grasped her hand tightly, but some of the tension in his faced seemed to relax. Encouraged, Kira sat down next to his head and gingerly lifted it with one hand and scooted over so his head was now resting in his lap. She switched her hands so she could hold his hand more comfortably at his side, and placed the other hand on his head. She remembered how her father would do the same thing to calm her mother when she had nightmares and later when she started having fits during the day.

Holding Thorin seemed to help him immensely. His body had relaxed and his face had cleared. He stopped mumbling and looked peacefully asleep now. Satisfied with these results, she leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling. If this whole situation was just a dream, if they were really asleep in the forest somewhere under some curse, then she hoped she never woke. She was now surer about herself than she'd ever been before. For this first time, she felt that Thorin needed her and that she was able to meet that need. Even if he never loved her back, she would always love him. He was her One.

Kira stroked his hair absentmindedly as she slowly fell asleep to the sound of his soft and steady breathing.

* * *

Later than morning, Thorin awoke, strangely aware that something was different. He jerked his head to the side and realized that he was lying on someone. He sat up suddenly and saw Kira lying haphazardly on the floor next to him. He had been lying on her thigh. For a while he just sat there staring at her, completely speechless. He hadn't moved, which meant that Kira had moved to sleep next to him. Normally he would be upset, but he had, admittedly, the best night's sleep in a very long while. He felt refreshed and alert. Should he confront her? Ignore it? One could argue that physical contact was inevitable in a cell this size, after all, and there was no telling how long they would be there. He moved to sit at the door and listen for the elves.

He decided not to say anything. Thorin was left with his thoughts while Kira slept on the cold stone floor. _Damn it_, he thought to himself. He wasn't supposed to enjoy contact with her! But he did, and he had. He found her very easy to talk to and pleasant company during this difficult time. He knew himself well enough to know that he would have fallen into despair very quickly had he been in that cell alone with his thoughts. He might have even considered making a deal with the elf king after a few weeks.

In spite of all their obvious differences, he found that they had a lot in common. They both had walked strange and broken paths that led them to where they were now. They both were trying desperately to make up for the inadequacies of their forefathers, and they were both very proud of their heritage.

Kira stirred after an hour or so and sat up as soon as she realized that Thorin was no longer there.

"Good morning," Thorin said from his spot at the door. He have her a warm smile. She blushed a dark red.

"I'm-I'm sorry," she stammered, "You were restless and you seemed to calm down after…" Kira trailed off, too embarrassed to say what she did out loud. Thorin's smile fell.

"It's alright," he said as he realized what must have happened. He looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry that I disturbed your sleep."

"You didn't," she said as she touched her shoulder. "I hope I helped, at least."

"You did," Thorin admitted with a smirk. He looked up at the door. "We need to work on our escape plan."

"Yes," Kira agreed. She walked over to the door and placed a hand on it. "I've stared at every nook and cranny on this door, but I don't see any way of forcing it open without tools." Thorin had stood up and was now standing next to her looking up at the small gap at the top of the door.

"Aye, I've inspected it, too," he said. "We will have to wait till one of the guards opens it."

"And then what? Can we overtake these guards without any weapons?"

"Thus far they have tended to us two at a time," Thorin looked at Kira thoughtfully. "They do not know you are here, and with a surprise attack we could overtake them." Thorin stroked his beard thoughtfully as he considered the plan so far. "And the real challenge will be getting out after that. We can hardly take on the entire elven realm."

"No, we cannot," Kira echoed sadly. "Not without a significant amount of luck."

"So it is settled then," Thorin said turning back to the wall facing the door. He walked over and sat down facing Kira. "We wait till we have heard enough of their habits to guess when a good time will be to try our escape. Until then, I am afraid you will have to suffer my company." He smiled wryly as he said this last part.

Kira smiled. Bad news had never sounded so good. She was not, however, content to just sit there. She was getting stir-crazy being cooped up like a caged animal. "I'm sorry that it is you that will have to continue to suffer my company," she said as she paced around. Thorin was about to respond, but Kira leaned backward and smoothly transitioned her weight into a handstand. She concentrated on balancing her weight between her hands as she slowly bent her knees till her feet rested on her head.

She glanced over to see if Thorin was watching. He was, of course, since there was nothing else to do. Satisfied, she walked forward a few steps on her hands and straightened her body. She lowered her feet to the ground and stood up in one fluid motion, then bent her knees and flung herself back into a flip. She landed a little wobbly with her knees bent. Clearly she was getting rusty sitting here in this cell! She repeated the handstand and flip several times till she landed properly and several more times to solidify it in her muscle memory.

"Enjoying the show?" she teased as she flexed her stiff fingers. Thorin hadn't stopped watching her the whole time, which made her absolutely overjoyed. She rarely got to show off like this.

"Yes," he said before he could stop himself. He coughed to clear his throat and looked away as he added, "There is not much else to look at in here. My apologies for staring." He couldn't help find beauty in her graceful flexibility, though he felt guilty for thinking about her in this way.

Kira laughed. "Don't apologize," she said. "I am not happy being cooped up in here, either." She looked down at the floor, then back at Thorin and grinned. "Watch this," she said as she placed one hand behind her back and bent forward into a one-handed handstand.

Thorin gave her a few short claps. "Lovely," he said with a grin.

Suddenly, they heard the soft footsteps of the elves approaching. Kira scurried back to the dark corner and held her breath. As usual, the elves were quick, though this time they were more so. They came in, threw some food and water to Thorin and left in less than ten seconds.

"I wonder what has them in a hurry?" Kira asked as she rose from the shadows once more.

"I do not know," he said. His demeanor had suddenly changed. His expression had tightened and the playful light that was in his eyes before had now gone. Thorin seemed to be lost in thought.

"Are you alright?" Kira asked him. She approached him hesitantly, but kept a respectful distance. Kira stood between him and the door, studying his face for any reaction.

After a few minutes, Thorin responded. "I am," he said in an even voice. He looked over to her, "Are you hungry?" he asked, motioning to the food. Kira just shook her head and turned around to sit at the door. She spent the next hour or so listening at the door, though there was nothing to really to hear. Thorin ate quietly, his expression largely unchanging.

Suddenly, after several hours of sitting in silence, Thorin stood up. Kira looked up to him expectantly. "If the elves are preparing for something, this may be our chance to escape," he said. A new fire had returned to his eyes. Kira stood up quickly and looked at him expectantly.

"It makes sense," Thorin continued. "Their king told me that they were merrymaking in the forest and the elves have been paying less and less attention to us."

"That means we may have our chance to escape if they are distracted," Kira said as the realization sunk in. They may have a chance to leave! A smile broke across Thorin's face.

Kira was happy to see him happy again, but there was a knot forming in her stomach. So many things could go wrong in their trying to escape, and the most likely result would be that they would be recaptured and separated. The knot in her stomach grew more painful as she considered the idea of being locked up alone. It was simply unbearable.

Kira trudged over to the corner and sat in morbid silence. Unfortunately, there was no way to plan for what they would meet outside. Their only hope would be to take their opportunity and try to get through the front gate quickly and quietly. Sadly, Thorin was not as quiet as she was. Sure, Kira may be able to get through, but how is a dwarf going to escape elves? She couldn't disagree with Thorin's point, either. They may not get another chance for a very long time, so they had to try.

If this was going to be the last day that she would have with Thorin, she was at a loss of what to do with it. Was there any point to telling him how she felt?

Thorin did his best to ignore Kira's mood change, but he felt guilty. He understood their chances of escaping were slim and that they would most likely be recaptured, but they didn't know when they would have another chance. He needed to get out and get back to his people. Thorin worried very much that the rest of the company was starving in the woods or worse, that they had been captured as well.

A separate issue was that in spending so much time with Kira these past few days he had realized that he actually enjoyed being with her. In fact he'd been thinking about her more and more, and was beginning to care for Kira much more than he should. It was fundamentally wrong; he'd made a promise to Fili, and he did not want to put himself in a position in which he would be tempted to break it. Thorin knew his family would not approve of Kira as a wife for Fili or him, so it was pointless either way.

The elves did not return again the rest of the day, which only gave more evidence to Thorin's earlier observation. They would need to take the next visit from the elves as an opportunity to escape.

Kira couldn't sleep that night. Her stomach was in knots as she tried to figure out what she would do, if anything, during their last morning in the cell together. She lied there staring at the ceiling.

It was just past midnight when Kira could hear Thorin grumbling in his sleep again. She tensed as she tried to decide if she should go comfort him. Before she could make up her mind, though, Thorin stopped. Kira relaxed again and shifted over onto her side. He didn't need her after all. Maybe this was a sign that she shouldn't do anything about the next morning?

Kira started to relax and slowly her eyelids began to droop. She was just drifting off to sleep when Thorin started talking again. This time, Kira could make out a word here and there, and it was clear that he was having a really bad dream. He was telling something to stop and something else to go, but she didn't understand much else. She couldn't bear to just sit there and listen, so Kira hopped up and went straight to him. _No wonder he hardly slept if he is always haunted by nightmares,_ she thought.

She sat down and arranged herself in the same way as she had done the night before. As Kira cradled Thorin's head in her lap, stroking his hair and holding his hand, she saw that he was still distressed. Since this was probably her last night with him, she went for broke and started singing to him softly. It was a silly little children's song about a squirrel running down a tree, but it was a song that had comforted her as a child. Since it was in her native tongue, Thorin wouldn't know what she was singing, even if he did wake up.

As she sang to him, stroking his hair, Thorin settled down into a peaceful sleep. The worry lines left his face and he looked as though he'd become younger. Kira stopped after going through the song a second time. She spent the rest of the night listening to Thorin's soft and steady breathing and stroking his hair gently.

At around five in the morning, Kira gave Thorin's hand one final squeeze before gently scooting out from under him. She went back to the bedroll in on the other side of the cell and lied down. She decided to try her best to sleep until Thorin woke up on his own. She curled up facing the wall, listening to Thorin's soft snore.


	16. Attempted Escape

**Chapter 16: Attempted Escape**

An hour or so after Kira had left him, Thorin stirred. At approximately half past six, he sat up and yawned, almost expecting to find Kira lying next to him. He was disappointed to see her on the other side of the cell and felt a tinge of guilt for wanting her nearby. Thorin realized that he missed her, which was strange to him since he could see her no more than ten feet away.

"Kira?" he whispered. He couldn't tell if she was awake or not since she was facing the wall.

Kira rolled over and sat up. She looked as though she hadn't slept at all; her eyelids were slightly puffy and darkened. "Good morning," she said with a forced smile. She was still unsure of what to say to Thorin. She worried that they had used their luck up already, and that there was no hope of them getting out. She tried to push those worries aside. "So what is the plan for today?" she asked.

Thorin looked down at his hands for a moment then back to Kira. "We will wait till the elves enter, then take them by surprise," he said, "I will strike first, then you will attack from behind."

"Alright," she responded. It felt like a swarm of angry bees was buzzing around in her stomach. She would play her part and not disappoint Thorin, but she felt an overwhelming need to tell him the truth. The thought terrified her. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and it was all she could do to regulate her breathing. _Just do it already,_ she told herself, _there may not be another chance_.

"Thorin, I have something to tell you," Kira blurted out. Thorin gave her a sidelong glance. Her voice sounded a little shrill so she took a deep breath to calm herself. She stood up and walked over to Thorin where he had been looking at her with a curious expression. She sat down next to him.

"What is it?" he asked. Her face looked a little pale, now that he could see her closely. "Are you feeling well?" Thorin worried she may be falling ill.

"I am well," she replied with small smile. She oriented herself to face him and cleared her throat. "It has come to my attention that this may be the last time that I talk to you if our plan fails. In my heart, I did not feel it right to deceive you any longer. I understand that you may not ever reciprocate my feelings, but I wanted you to know that I care for you very much, more so than I probably should." Now that she was talking, the anxiety was beginning to subside. She spoke now with a little more confidence. "It has been an honor and a privilege to have met you and share this space with you. Though my feelings have changed as I've come to know you, the fact has remained that I've loved you since I first met you, since I first heard you speak." At this last sentence, Kira's heart jumped into her throat and she said no more. There was nothing for her to do now but study Thorin's face for any reaction.

She could see a storm brewing in his deep blue eyes and they looked almost sad. Thorin said and did nothing, though. He seemed to be processing Kira's abrupt speech.

Unfortunately, Kira interpreted the silence only as a rejection. Surprisingly, she did not feel hurt by this; in fact, she felt relieved to finally express what has been bottled up inside her for so long.

"I can see that I have made you uncomfortable. My apologies," she said. She got up and went to the shadow in the corner of the cell. "I will be ready for our visitors."

Thorin said nothing. He wanted to, but he was at a loss. Here was the object of his growing desires revealing to him that she was in love with him. It should have been a joyous moment, but he was tormented by his obligations to his nephew. If they did get out, Fili would be furious and heartbroken at the news that his uncle had fallen in love with Kira.

Thorin fought with himself over what to do. He couldn't deny it anymore: he wanted Kira and he wanted to be with her always. He had never felt so at peace as he had with her these past few days. The only worry he had had concerned his growing feelings for her and betraying Fili.

But Kira said that she had always loved him, meaning she wasn't in love with Fili. The poor boy was in love with someone who loved another. Kira chose Thorin, though, and dwarves placed a great deal of value on the female's choice. If she doesn't offer her feelings, the males are supposed to respect her wishes. How different were nomads in this regard, though? Kira had told Thorin that they are monogamous, since they have a concept of having a 'One', too.

Her being a nomad was another issue entirely. His family would not approve at all of their union. In spite of the fact that he'd told Fili that he would help him win her over, in the back of his mind, he had expected Fili's affections to fizzle out when the quest was over. After all, why would Kira want to be with a dwarf? She was very different from them culturally and as a person.

And yet, here she had revealed to Thorin that she had been in love with him. Thorin hadn't felt affection for a woman in all of his 100 plus years of adult life, and not from lack of meeting many female dwarves, either. This had to be fate, then, so could he be blamed for returning her affections?

Thorin decided he would explain to Kira that Fili was in love with her, too, and let her decide. It was the only way he could allow himself to love her back in good conscience.

There was, of course, the other problem that they may not escape today and possibly be recaptured and separated. The thought pained him. If he had to rot in an elvish prison for the rest of his life, he couldn't bear the idea of doing it alone, nor could he stomach the idea of Kira being kept alone from the sun since she would surely go mad.

He concluded that they couldn't go through with their plan. It was too much of a risk. Thorin looked over to Kira, though he could only see a faint outline of her. At that time, he heard the soft footsteps of the approaching elves.

"Don't move, do nothing!" his whispered furiously to her. Kira said nothing, but looked at him bewildered. What was he doing? This could be their only chance to escape, though she hadn't been eager to go through with the plan, anyway. She stayed in the shadow and did not move or breathe.

The elves entered the cell as quickly and roughly as they had done the day before and left just as abruptly. Kira stayed frozen till she could no longer hear their soft footsteps in the distance.

She rose from the shadows and looked to Thorin. Thorin stood, too, and stepped forward till he stood before her, about three feet away. Kira admired him as he walked toward her, standing regally tall. He was about six to seven inches taller than her, and looked majestic even in the simple shirt, pants, and boots that he was in now.

"What is it?" she asked.

"There is something you must know," he started, "I know that Fili has feelings for you."

Kira's throat tightened. She hadn't thought about Fili once since they were captured. "I know," she replied. She looked at the floor. "He asked me…if I saw myself being his wife one day."

Thorin's eyes widened and he clenched his fists, angry at his nephew's boldness. "What did you say?" he asked. He needed to hear exactly what Kira had said, because she made already be under contract with Fili. What a horrible turn of events it would be if they were already betrothed…

"I declined his offer," she said. She could feel her heart pounding again in her ears as she looked up and into his stormy eyes. "I care for him like a friend or brother, but nothing more. Why do you ask?"

A smile broke across Thorin's face. "That is happy news. I…I have felt something for you that I have never felt for anyone else," he stammered. A glow had risen in his cheeks.

Kira's heart soared. Elated, she stepped forward to close the distance between them. "What are you saying?" she asked. She wanted to hear the exact words. She looked up into his eyes and he looked down into hers. The gold of her irises seem to swirl and melt.

Gold. She had gold swirling in her eyes.

"I didn't want us to escape just yet because I couldn't bear the idea of being in this cell without you," he replied. "I have fallen in love with you." The grin on Kira's face gave Thorin a warm feeling in his stomach. He wanted so badly to hold her.

Kira seemed to be thinking the same thing, for she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his left shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pressed his face to her hair.

"I wish we had spent more time together much sooner," he said softly in her ear. The sensation sent a tingle down her spine.

"As do I," she replied. The warmth of his body was tantalizing, stirring licentious feelings such that she had never felt before. She sighed.

They stood holding each other for quite some time, drinking in the joy of the moment. Finally, Thorin spoke with a hint of sadness in his voice, "I fear I cannot make you an appropriate proposal now."

Kira pulled away. She didn't understand what he meant. Her brow furrowed as she asked, "Why not?"

Thorin chuckled softly, "I do not have an acquirement sum to offer you." He motioned for her to sit and Kira sat down on the bedroll. Thorin joined her at her side.

"Why would you need to give me money?" she asked, still a little confused.

Thorin tilted his head as he thought about this. He hadn't thought about the 'why' before, since this was tradition. He quickly realized the correct answer. "To show you that I can provide for you," he said at last, "Then you would have the choice to accept. If you did, we would enter a contract together to get married."

This time it was Kira's turn to laugh. "We don't have much use for gold," she said. She placed her hand on his and squeezed it gently. "If you want to 'provide for me', make sure I live to see my grandchildren one day." She chuckled a little and shook her head before leaning on Thorin's shoulder. "Contract," she muttered under her breath.

Thorin laughed, too. "Because talking to a moon is much better," he teased. She sat up and looked at him in feigned shock.

"Who said anything about talking to it? It was a euphemism, I'm sure," she replied in a lyrical tone. "Because a contract is so romantic!"

"You can't say that nomads don't have expectations of marriage."

"We don't feel the need to write it all down," she teased back with a devilish grin, "We have better memory."

"You are baiting me, aren't you?" he asked, though he knew it was all in fun.

Kira arched an eyebrow. "Perhaps," she said. Suddenly, her smile fell as a change came over her face. She spoke more soberly, "Do you really want to marry me?"

Thorin shifted to kneeling in front of her had cupped her face in his hand. Kira leaned into his hand, enjoying the warmth of his rough skin. He looked into her eyes. "If you would have me, nothing would make me happier."

"But I'm not a dwarf."

"I am not a nomad, yet you love me."

"True, but we do not discriminate. My people include many runaways that we accept with open arms." Kira had gotten the impression that dwarves were very proud of being dwarves and not favorable of others.

"I love you, and that is proof enough that I will marry you," said Thorin. She brought up good points, but he had already made up his mind about what he wanted. Kira pulled his hand down from her face to her lap and held it.

"If we had a knife, you could marry me now," Kira said, "Our marriage process is simpler than yours. After we agree to marry and on where we would live, you would come with my to my parents and cut me from them." She placed a hand on her hair and pulled the end of her large braid down her shoulder. She undid the large braid and pulled out one of the smaller ones. She pointed to each of the three locks of hair that comprised her braid as she spoke, "One for me to cut, one for my father, and one for you. Since my parents are gone, I would cut the middle one on their behalf. Then we would consummate our marriage."

Thorin leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I look forward to when we can fulfill both of our marriage traditions," he whispered.

For that day, they forgot they were imprisoned. They forgot about the hostile elves outside the cell, the hostile forest outside of the realm, and the company of whom they knew nothing of their whereabouts. They cuddled and played with each other as they talked about their families, traditions, and homelands. They enjoyed the new intimacy very much and found that they every tale only made them love each other more.

The elves did not return again that day. Kira and Thorin talked late into the night and slept in each other's arms. Kira had undone her hair entirely and let it flow freely down and onto the floor.

* * *

As they pair slept, they moved a little every now and then. Thorin was lying on his back while Kira was sleeping on her side, using the crick of his shoulder as a pillow. Her head leaned on his chest while her right arm was across his chest, her right hand resting on his left pectoral. Unconsciously, Thorin had moved his right hand down to the small of her back. His left hand was resting on her right forearm. They slept very peacefully together.

Kira lifted her right hand to scratch at her shoulder, and replaced it, but this time her hand had travel up his shirt, feeling his bare and hairy chest. Unconsciously, be it from memory of when she nearly froze to death or a subconscious desire to feel more of his body, her hand travel along down his stomach and along his ribs, gently feeling his smooth warm skin, soft hair, and firm muscles. Thorin seemed to pull her closer as she did this, his left arm pulling her up, which pulled her tunic up gently.

Still asleep, Thorin shifted to his side so he faced her now. His nose brushed against her forehead and his kissed it like he had done earlier that day. Kira leaned her head up in response and kissed his chin. His beard gently scratched at her lips, rousing her ever so slightly. She was still lingering between sleep and wake. Thorin pulled her closer, his hand now under her tunic on the lower part of her back, below where her belt was tied off. He gently stroked her soft skin.

Kira's nose brushed against Thorin's lower lip, prompting him to kiss her nose. She in turn leaned her head further up and kissed his lips. A jolt of electricity shot through them as they kissed again, this time more fervently. They pulled each other closer, clenching the fabric of the other's shirt as they pressed their lips passionately together.

Both were waking now, though it felt very much like a dream. Kira rolled over on top of Thorin and straddled him, her hair cascading down like raven waterfall. Both were eager to continue their intimacy, but they needed to say something first: "Do you swear to love me as long as we both shall live?" Kira asked.

"I swear," Thorin said, his hands resting on her thighs. "Do you swear?"

"I swear," she said with a smile. "I would never leave your side. In my heart you will find a home."

A tear very nearly came to Thorin's eye as Kira spoke these words; they were the same that dwarves spoke in their wedding vows. "In your heart I will find a home," he replied happily. He pulled her back down to kiss her again.

With nothing holding them back, they gave into temptation at last. They kissed passionately as Kira undid her belt and slipped off her tunic. They paused to pull Thorin's shirt over his head and to remove their pants. They admired each other's naked bodies as they lied back down next to each other. Kira was almost shocked by how fair Thorin's skin was; his stomach shone white in the dark in spite of the dark hair that covered his body. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Thorin admire her smooth copper skin and felt his rough hands gently touch the edges of her smooth breasts. The excitement was too much to handle. Kira wrapped herself around him and rolled on top of him, kissing him deeply. She pushed her tongue into his mouth and he pulled her thighs closer, angling her hips over his hard cock.

He'd always heard that it took some time for a woman to get moist enough, but he could already feel a warm wetness between her legs. Thorin held her legs behind her knees as he rolled her under him. Her hands that hand been laced into his hair now pulled him closer to her. Kira moved her hands to behind his back and wrapped her legs around his hips. Thorin pulled away from her lips and looked into her wanting eyes for confirmation that she was okay. Kira arched her back and closed her eyes as Thorin plunged into her. A soft cry of pleasure and pain escaped her, and Thorin clasped his hand over her mouth. This seemed to excite her even more, and she moaned and cried into his hand as he thrust into her over and over again. He kissed her neck as he pulsated faster and faster inside her. Kira pivoted her hips to adjust the angle of his thrusts.

A shockwave of pleasure coursed through her body, shocking her senses. She let out a cry that Thorin muffled as well as he could. Kira moved her ankles to behind Thorin's knees, holding him there. Satisfied that she was enjoying herself, he thrust faster and harder, as quickly as he could physically make himself go. He closed his eyes as the pleasure swelled. He let out a soft moan as it reached its peak. Kira dug her fingernails into his back as she climaxed. A numb sensation spread over her limbs and she relaxed her grip on him. Thorin came a moment after she did and slowed down to a stop. Both of them were covered in a thin layer of sweat and were breathing heavily as he dropped down next to her on her left. He stretched out his right arm and Kira lifted her head to take up her spot in the crick of his shoulder, this time in full contact with his skin.

They lied together, soaking up their blissful energy without speaking for at lest an hour or so. They very nearly drifted off to sleep, but Thorin nudged Kira to sit up.

"We should get dressed, just in case we are visited early tomorrow," he whispered to her as he sat up and kissed her shoulder.

"Of course," she replied sleepily. She turned to look at his naked body one more time. "Just in case this turns out to be a dream, I would like to remember this," she teased.

He chuckled and shifted onto his knees, pulling her up into one last embrace before they got dressed. "I assure you, I've never had a dream so good," he whispered in his silky baritone. They passionately kissed once more before standing up to get dressed. They lied back down and fell asleep almost instantly in each other's arms.

* * *

Several days before these events, the company found themselves within the magic gate of the Woodland Realm. Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Nori, Dori, and Ori had been brought before the Woodland King. They had been tied together and led across many halls, platforms, and bridges to the great throne of Thranduil, Elf King of the Woodland Realm.

The company looked grim, ragged and sore as they were. "Unbind them," Thranduil instructed his guards. "They need no ropes in here, for there is no escape from my magic doors for those who are once brought inside."

The guards obeyed, and the dwarves were lined up in three crude lines to be roughly untied. The King was determined to get more information out of them than he had from Thorin, but the company was entirely bereft of manners by this point. They were so angry of their treatment and tired from their long journey. Long did the king question them, but got little more than grumbling in response.

"What have we done, O king?" asked Balin. He had little patience left.

"Is it a crime to be lost in the forest?" asked Fili angrily. "Are the spiders your tame beast or pets if killing them makes you angry?"

These questions made the king furious. He rounded on Fili, steeping forward to tower over him. "It is a crime to wander in my realm without leave. Did you forget that you were in my kingdom, using the road that my people made? Did you not wantonly attack my people? Did you not rouse the spiders in your clamor? After all the disturbances you've made, I have a right to know what brings you here and a duty to prevent further harm to my people," said Thranduil. A glowering air seemed to surround him now, making him look like a menacing figure even in the bright lighting of his hall.

The dwarves did not speak another word to the king. "If you will not tell me now," Thranduil spat angrily, "I will keep you all in prison until you have learned sense and manners!" He turned to his guards and ordered that the prisoners be placed each in separate cells. He permitted them food and drink but not to be allowed pass the threshold of their tiny cells.

The king had made no mention of Thorin or Kira, leading the company to believe, or hope, that they were still out there in the woods or beyond its border. Fili, having been the last in line when they were captured, hoped that their hobbit had made it within the walls of Mirkwood before the gates were sealed. If he had, they may still have a chance of escaping.

* * *

Bilbo resided in the Elven Realm for what felt like a month to the miserable hobbit. Too afraid to remove his ring, he skulked about in the shadows, stealing food whenever he could. He wandered around, seeking an exit or escape, but after several days he was beginning to lose hope that there was an entrance other than the magically sealed gate.

Once, the King set out on a hunting trip and Bilbo followed the hunting party out, which was a dangerous thing to do. He very nearly got caught in the gate that closed soon after the last elf had passed. Once past the gate, he felt too miserable at the thought of leaving his friends. He dared not enter the forest on his own, either, lest he get lost and die of starvation. He settled for loitering by the gate until the King's hunting party returned. He followed them back in and abandoned any plan of escaping that way.

He spent the rest of his time exploring within the walls of the Woodland Realm. He eavesdropped on a few conversations, but avoided remaining in the presence of the eves for very long. He lived ever afraid they may hear him breathing, accidentally bump into him, or catch a glimmer of his form in the brighter torchlight.

"I am like a burglar that can't get away, but must go on miserably burgling the same house day after day," he thought to himself. Oh how he wished he were back in his hobbit-hole! He often wished, too, that he could get a message out to Gandalf or that the wizard might swoop in and save them once more. After a few days though, it was clear that the saving was going to be left up to him.

After a few days of this sneaking around and eavesdropping, Bilbo discovered that there was another dwarf prisoner that was in a lower dungeon, in a different part of the palace. After getting lost a couple of times, Bilbo managed to find the cell. He was hesitant to do anything about it at first; this cell had no window, so he had no means of determining if Thorin was indeed in it without revealing himself. To add to this, there was a torch very near the cell that cast a bright light by the door, meaning someone walking nearby would be able to see his shimmering form.

During this first trip, he was too scared of guards hearing him speak or seeing him standing there to do anything. He crept as lightly and quietly as he could to the door and listened. He heard nothing. Too scared to do much more, he scampered off before he could be caught.

He'd noticed over the past few days that the elves had become busied with preparations for a festival or celebration of some kind. They were gathering much food and wine from nearby kingdoms and there was a spring in their step. It was because of this flurry of activity that Bilbo discovered that there was actually one more way out of the kingdom: deep in the cellars, not far from Thorin's supposed cell, was a wine cellar that was equipped with trapdoors that opened out into a stream, which flowed beneath and out of the kingdom.

As it turned out from listening to many conversations there, this wine, among other goods, was brought in from the elves' kinsfolk in the south or from the vineyards of men in distant lands. After the barrels were emptied, they were dumped through the trapdoors to float down the stream. There was a gate from the stream to the Forest River, and from its low rocky ceiling was a portcullis that could be dropped right to the bed of the river. This prevented anyone from entering in from there. This portcullis was usually open, though, especially now with all the traffic coming in and out.

As Bilbo learned from both listening in on conversations and from observing the wine cellar, the woodland elves, and especially their king, were very fond of wine. Many barrels were dumped every day to be roped by men down the River and floated like a raft to Laketown. As the days went on, the number of barrels increased, and this gave Bilbo an idea.

He waited until the early hours (he assumed it was) of the morning to approach Thorin's cell again. When he was confident that there were no elves approaching, he hesitantly crept to the cell and spoke for the first time in nearly a week.

* * *

Kira woke the following morning feeling the more relaxed and rested than she ever had. They had slept in a little, so she gently nudged Thorin awake next to her. She kissed his cheek as his eyes fluttered open. "Good morning," she said awkwardly. The memory of the night before had flooded back to her all at once and she didn't know the proper protocol for the following morning.

Thorin beamed at her. "Good morning, my love," he said. They kissed each other tenderly.

"We've slept in," Kira said as she rose. "I do not know when—" she froze as she heard exceptionally soft, but very close footsteps. Quickly, she pulled Thorin up and pushed him to the wall facing the door while she slunk into the shadow. She saw too late that there several spots of blood on the bedroll. She hoped and prayed that the elves would notice.

Much to their surprise, the outsider did not open the door. The outsider stood outside for a moment before a familiar voice whispered, "Thorin?" Kira stepped out of the shadows and looked at Thorin in alarm.

Thorin could not believe his ears. "Bilbo?" he whispered as he approached the door.

"Thank the stars, Thorin! I thought we'd lost you."

"Are the others with you?" asked Thorin.

"They were captured by the elves as well," said the hobbit sadly. "There isn't much time. I think I can spring us, though it may take me a day or two, so be ready to go at a moment's notice. Have you heard anything of Kira?"

Thorin looked over to Kira. She went to the door and responded, "I'm here, Bilbo. It brings me much joy to hear your voice again!"

"As it does me," the Hobbit responded. Truthfully, Bilbo thought it was strange that they had been locked together when everyone else had been intentionally separated, but already he felt he'd lingered too long. "I'll be back, I promise!"

Kira could hear the hobbit creep off, barely quieter than the elf guards that followed soon after. Kira had time to flip over the bedroll and go back into the shadow, though it hardly seemed necessary for how little attention the elves afforded Thorin.

"It seems Gandalf spoke true, as usual, about Bilbo," Thorin remarked after the elf guards had left.

"Yes, he did," Kira replied. This news was bittersweet. They were both very happy that they may have a real chance to escape, but the bubble of their new romance was burst at the thought of having to confront Fili with the news.

They ate in silence.

"There is more you should know," Thorin said at last when they had finished.

"What is it?" Kira asked. She was sitting next to him, leaning on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her.

"I had promised Fili to help him…with you," he said. Kira pulled back.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"When he told me that he was in love with you, I told him that I would help he see if you loved him back," Thorin pursed his lips as he admitted his guilt. "Please forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive," she pointed out. "You promised to find out my true feelings and you have."

"Yes, but he will not take this news well," Thorin replied. He knew Fili would be furious. He needed to deal with it delicately. "Forgive me still for asking this: I need to tell my nephew of our love carefully to avoid any misunderstanding between us."

Kira nodded. She understood what Thorin was asking and agreed that his plan would be the best way to go. "We will not reveal our relationship to the rest of the company till you have spoken to Fili," she agreed.

Thorin smiled in relief, pulled her into his arms, and held her closely, "Thank you, Kira. My family is very important to me, and I want you to join it on good terms."

"As do I," she responded. After a few moments they pulled away.

"How is Bilbo getting us out of here, I wonder," Kira asked as she glanced around the cell.

Thorin shook his head. "I haven't a faint idea, but I trust that with the whole company at our side, we can make it out."

Kira smiled at her hands and twiddled her fingers, daydreaming about the outside world.

"What are you thinking of?" Thorin asked upon seeing the smirk on her face.

Kira looked up at him with a sly smile. "We are betrothed. You can't get rid of me now," she teased.

Thorin chuckled and pulled her in for another kiss, savoring the sensation of their young love.

* * *

**Author: I am so sorry for the delay in uploading these last two chapters. I re-wrote them so many times, and eventually decided that I needed to wait and add them together. Hopefully they were worth the wait! About the smut, I hope nobody was offended. I would like to remind everyone that the story is rated M, even if I haven't written any sexually explicit scenes before now. Also, happy belated Valentine's Day! :)**

**Huge thank you to Dwarrow Scholar for all the info on Dwarf Culture! I very much appreciate your detailed entries. ^.^**

**To Reaverattack: Hahaha, they tried to :P **

**To Guest Reviewer: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. These two chapters have a lot of Thorin/Kira, so I hope you enjoyed them :)**

**To Punky Warhammer: D'aww Thank you! I'm glad you've enjoyed my story so far!**

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	17. Barrels Out Of Bound

**Chapter 17: Barrels Out of Bound**

Thorin and Kira had one last sweet day of bliss before Bilbo came to their door once more. They spent much of this last day in intimacy, but Thorin stopped them from going much further that kissing. They were cuddled in a corner of the cell, Thorin's thick arms wrapped around Kira as they kissed. Each time Kira tried to kiss him more deeply though, Thorin pulled her away.

This bothered Kira, so at last she asked, "Is there something wrong?" She leaned back toward the adjacent wall and started finger-combing her hair.

"No," Thorin replied with a sigh, "I worry that it would be ill-timed to … impregnate you."

"Oh," Kira said. The thought hadn't crossed her mind. "I don't think we would have to worry about that. It takes a long time for us to bear a child."

"What do you mean by that?" Thorin asked.

"My mother and father tried for many years to give my a little brother or sister, but that never happened, sadly. They were married for nearly four years before my mother bore me."

"Four years is not long at all, my love," said Thorin. "Fili and Kili are only five years apart. Between Frerin and I were five years, between he and Dis nine."

"Nine years!" Kira said in surprise. "That is a very long time indeed." She looked over to Thorin thoughtfully. A notion crossed her mind. "How old are you?" she asked as she started braiding her hair into one long and intricate braid.

Thorin smirked. "I am one hundred and ninety-five."

Kira's hands dropped as she gaped at him. How was that possible? "Are you immortal? Like Beorn?"

Thorin laughed, "Dwarves live to be old indeed, but our days are numbered like everyone else. My grandfather was two hundred and forty-eight when he was killed. His grandfather was also nearly two hundred and fifty when he was killed."

Thorin watched her process this information. She responded, "I have only seen sixty-seven years in middle earth, but I doubt I will see as many as two hundred. Most of my people do not live past one hundred and eighty years."

It was Thorin's turn to be shocked. "You would still be a child were you a dwarf! It is lucky that you are not."

"You would be dust were you a _sherryk_, so we are both lucky," she laughed.

Kira's laugh caught in her throat as she heard the soft pad of light feet approaching the door. She sprang up and went to the shadow of the corner. It was not an elf, though, that approached them as they learned from the hushed sound of Bilbo's voice.

"Thorin? Kira?" the hobbit whispered.

"Bilbo! We are here. What news do you bring?" Kira asked. She crept over to the door and leaned against it to better here their friend on the other side. Thorin, too, approached the door to listen.

"We will have to do it today. I will collect the others and be back for you," said Bilbo.

"Do not underestimate these elves," Thorin warned. "Be quick and quiet."

"I am aware!" said Bilbo crossly. Kira heard him turn to leave but she stopped him.

"Bilbo! Can I ask a favor of you?" she said.

"What favor can't wait till we are outside?" he asked, a little annoyed. Bilbo felt he had overstayed his safety and very much wanted to leave.

"Please do not tell the others that Thorin and I are …_together_," she stammered. This was not something she ever thought she would be saying to Bilbo.

"I'm not one to gossip much," Bilbo replied. Hobbits were, in fact, rather fond of gossiping, but Bilbo was an anomaly in this regard. "Your secret is safe. I'll be back." With that, the hobbit scampered off to find the guards.

Bilbo quickly found the chief of the guards. As he followed he, he wondered how he was going to be able to take the keys. Just as Bilbo was going to doubt his gumption, he had a miraculous stroke of luck.

The King's personal guard was bidding the chief of the guards good night. "Now come with me and taste the new wine that has just come in," the guard said to the chief. "I shall be hard at work tonight clearing the cellars of the empty wood, so let us have a drink first to help the labor."

"Very good," laughed the chief of guards. "I'll taste with you and see if it's fit for the King's table. It would not do to send up poor stuff!"

Bilbo could not believe his good fortune as he followed them down into the wine cellar, the same one he'd been scouting out before. There they sat at a table on which two large flagons were set. He watched, scarcely breathing, as the guard and chief laughed and drank merrily. This wine was potent stuff, for the wood-elves grew drowsy rather quickly. This wine especially, as it turned out, was the heady vintage of the great gardens of Dorwinion, not meant for the King's soldiers but for the King's feast and only in small bowls, not in these large flagons.

Near the bottom of these flagons, the chief guard nodded his head, and then he laid it on the table and fell fast asleep. The other guard continued laughing on his own, unaware that his audience was asleep. After another long gulp, his head fell forward to the table, and he too was snoring. Bilbo crept forward and, as gently as he could, he unclasped the keys from the chief guard's belt. With every clink the keys made Bilbo cringed, expecting the chief of the guards to wake at any second. As soon as he had the keys firmly grasped in his hand, Bilbo set off as quickly and quietly as he could to the upper cells where the majority of the company was kept.

* * *

Fili had been a bundle of nerves as they waited for Bilbo to return. The hobbit had made brief contact with them the day before, but they had no time to ask him many questions, since they were closer to the more regularly used halls and their cells were checked on more regularly. The elves had taken everything from them, even the most hidden knives in the soles of Fili's boots, so he'd had nothing to occupy his time. Fili had to settle for pacing the small cell and occasionally talking to Balin whose cell was closest. They avoided saying anything when the guards were in view, which was often, so they did not speak much at all. After Bilbo had visited them briefly, they said nothing till the hobbit returned as promised.

Bilbo slipped off his ring when he approached the cells. Fili was first to be let out. The dwarf hugged Bilbo in gratitude and was about to ask questions, when the hobbit shushed him.

"No time now!" he said, scarcely louder than a whisper. "Just follow me and for goodness sake, keep quiet!" Fili nodded and followed Bilbo to the other cells. One by one, the hobbit unlocked the cell, let the dwarf out, and relocked the door behind them.

The dwarves were happy to see their friend alive and had many questions for Bilbo, but he shushed them again and again. "Drat this dwarvish racket!" he said to himself. Then to the group, "We must keep together and not risk getting separated. All of us must escape or none, and this is our last chance. Goodness knows where the king will put you next if this is found out. Don't argue. Keep quiet, and follow me!"

Bilbo's heartbeat stuttered with every bump and clang the dwarves made as he led them down the now familiar passages to the cellar. He was counting down till they were found out, feeling it was inevitable with how loud the dwarves were. By some large miracle, or many small ones, they reached the lowest level of the palace. At last, they reached the lowest dungeon where Thorin and Kira were kept. Bilbo left the dwarves just inside the threshold of the nearby hallway and rushed over to the door.

"Thorin!" he whispered in warning, remembering what Kira had said earlier. He jammed the last key into the lock and turned it. This door was large, however, and took Thorin pushing from the inside to get it open. Thorin came out and hugged his closest kin, hugging Bilbo lastly.

"A pretty fine burglar you make, it seems, when the time is right," Thorin whispered to him rather pleased, "I'm sure we will all be forever at your service. Lead us on!" Thorin took position at the end of the long line of dwarves before him, following Bilbo. He looked out for any guards, though they had yet to see any due to the feasting going on in the main halls upstairs.

Kira hovered awkwardly nearer to Bilbo in the line. Fili had hugged her immediately when she'd emerged from the cell a few seconds after Thorin. She did her best to keep the hug brief; Kira pulled away and went straight for Bilbo, an action that Fili thought nothing of since they needed to focus on carrying out the rest of the plan, anyway. He was too happy to see her safe and healthy to think any ill thoughts now. He'd even missed that she had come from the same cell as Thorin.

Just before they reached the wine cellar, Bilbo felt it was time to explain his plan. Hurriedly, he told them of the barrels, the trapdoors, and the creek under the palace. The dwarves started grumbling loudly, in spite of their danger.

"We shall be bruised and battered to pieces and drowned too!" Gloin complained.

"You've got to be joking!" Dwalin growled. He was a larger dwarf and was skeptical that there would be a barrel he could be comfortably fit in.

"And here we thought you had a real plan," Kili grumbled.

"Very well!" said Bilbo, rather annoyed. "Come along back to your nice cells and I'll lock you back in again. You can sit there and think of a better plan, but I don't suppose I'll ever get a hold of the keys again!"

The dwarves all turned to Thorin.

"Do as he says," Thorin commanded. He watched as Bilbo led them to the cellar full of barrels, both full and empty. They crept quietly by the sleeping guards; the wine had them happily snoring with smiles on their faces. There would be a different expression on the face of the chief guard the next day when the King found out that his prisoners are gone. Bilbo reattached the keys to the chief's belt while the dwarves went to the barrels.

"That will save him some trouble, at least," Bilbo said to himself. "It will puzzle them all, too. They will think that we had very strong magic to pass through those walls." Then he went about helping the dwarves. Thorin stood watch of the guards asleep at the table and of the door while Bilbo helped each member of the company into a barrel and added padding as needed. Fili and Kili were smaller, for example, and each had quite a bit of room that Bilbo filled with straw and other nearby stuff. Some of the larger dwarves like Dwalin and Thorin, who was last to be packed in, had hardly any room at all. Kira had so much empty space in her barrel that Bilbo worried very much about all the bumping she would endure. She refused to let him add more than a couple handfuls of straw, though.

"I'd rather endure the pain than suffocate," she argued. Bilbo didn't have the patience to fight with her, so he sealed up her barrel as she requested. At last, thirteen dwarves and one nomad were safely sealed, and not a moment too soon. Only a minute or two after Thorin's lid had been secured did a number of elves come in the cellar, laughing as they saw the sleeping guards. Bilbo hurriedly slipped on his ring.

"Here's the old villain with his head on a jug!" one elf laughed as he saw the sleeping guard and chief. "Shake him! Wake him!'

Galion, so the guard was called, was not pleased to be waken and less pleased to wake up to a crowd laughing at him. "You're all late!" he grumbled to the elves. "Here I am waiting and waiting down here while you fellows drink and make merry and forget your tasks. Small wonder that I've fallen asleep from weariness!"

"Small wonder?" said another elf. "When the explanation stands close at hand in a jug! Come, give us a taste, too!"

They all drank a round and hollered and became merry, though they didn't drink enough to lose their wits. "Save us, Galion!" cried some. "You began your feasting early and muddle your wits! You have stacked some full casks instead of the empty ones I there is anything in weight."

"Get on with the work!" Galion growled. "There is nothing in the feeling of weight in an idle loafer's arms. These are the ones to go and no others. Do as I say!"

"Very well, very well," they answered. "On your head be it if the King's best wine is pushed to the river for the lake men for nothing." With that, they pulled the lever to the trapdoor and pushed the load out.

It was in this moment, as he watched the barrels roll out and splash into the water, that Bilbo discovered the weak point in his plan. Mostly likely, you've realized it a moment ago, but in the flurry of getting the rest of the company packed away, Bilbo had completely forgotten to include himself in his own escape in the plan. In a moment of panic, Bilbo lunged out after the last barrel, barely making it through the trapdoor before it closed.

Splash! The barrel hit the water and he came up spluttering. He held on to the bobbing barrel desperately as the current took them quickly down stream and through the portcullis. Despite all his clawing at the wood like a rat, he could not get on top of the barrel. Every time he tried, the barrel would roll and plunge him under water once more.

The current slowed a little as the stream grew closer to the Forest River. With trees now on either side, Bilbo began to wonder how the others were doing. He worried whether their lids were tight enough or if they were battered very much from the jostling down the trapdoor and through the portcullis. Shivering in the cold water, Bilbo suddenly felt very alone.

After going a ways, Bilbo wondered if he should risk trying to get to the shore. He couldn't very well stay in the water for very long. Luckily, the barrels soon hit an eddy, which held his barrel in place long enough for him to scramble atop. Precariously balanced, the cold air washed over his soaking wet body as he lay out atop the barrel, hoping it didn't roll over again.

Soon the barrels picked up speed again as they struck the main current. Bilbo found it much more difficult to stick on, but he managed it somehow. He likened it to trying to ride a round-bellied pony, with no bridle or stirrups, that was always trying to roll in the grass.

On he floated, drinking in the landscape as they went. The trees began to thin and the Forest River pulled them to the northern bank. Soon they reached a sort of bay that had been carved out over time by the main current. Bilbo could see people watching out, most likely for the barrels. The barrels soon ran aground and Bilbo took this opportunity to slide off his barrel and wade ashore. Soon after he stepped out of the river, the people had hopped in and poled and pushed the barrels all together in the shallows of the bay.

His poor companions! They were being treated like cargo, but Bilbo was not too badly off now. After how he was forced to survive with the elves, he didn't think twice about picking up a supper uninvited, as he did now. He crept over to the nearby camp that the men had left unattended and pilfered their larders. He was damp and hungry and quite miserable.

Bilbo's days were very uneventful leading up to the arrival of the barrels to Laketown. He kept his magic ring on at all times and followed the barrels down the river. The men had roped them together like a raft and floated them on using the poles to steer them. Bilbo took food as he could from the checkpoints along the river. This task became difficult, though, since he developed a cold after a day or two from being in the cold water then in the cold air with no real warmth.

After what felt like a lifetime of slinking about and following the barrels as they progressed down the river, the mouth of the Long Lake was finally in view. The Men stopped for one more night on the river. Bilbo slept nervously, worried he would be found out from his sneezing. In the early hours of the morning, he scurried onto the raft of barrels as quietly as he could. The men followed soon after and pushed the barrel raft out of the shallows for the last leg of their journey. It was a miracle that Bilbo did not sneeze again for a good long while. Miserably, he clung to the barrels as they were pushed out into open water.

Bilbo watched the cliff rise up as they floated around a steep shoulder to the lake. Soon he cliff fell away and Bilbo very nearly gasped at the sight: the land opened up around him as the river broke up to wander in a hundred courses and pools which dotted isles on every side. Away in the distance loomed the Lonely Mountain, alone and proud looking out across the marshes to the forests. Bilbo had come a very long way to see this mountain, and he found that he didn't like the look of it in the least.

Bilbo listened to the raftmen complaining of the recent weather and happenings of the Lake and the surrounding area. Much had evidently changed recently: there had been an earthquake or two that they attributed to the dragon and local roads had disappeared into the ever-expanding marshes. As it turned out, the river now offered the only safe passage in an out of Mirkwood in the north since it was guarded by the Elf-King. Thus, though Bilbo did not know it, they had come out of Mirkwood in the only safe way they could in spite of their delay when they were locked up.

After hours of clinging to the raft, the sun began to set and the strange town of Laketown, built right on the lake, could be seen. The town was protected from the swirl of the entering river by a promontory of rock that formed a sort of calm bay. A great wooden bridge ran out to the busy town. No elves lived here, but Men did, Men that were not afraid to live so near the mountain and the dragon. This town was but a shadow of what it used to be back in the days that Erebor and Dale still existed, but they thrived still nonetheless.

As they approached Laketown, lines were cast and soon the raft was pulled into the bay. There it was moored near the shoreward head of the bridge. The raftmen went to feast in Laketown with the intention of returning later to pull the casks from the water. As soon as the men had left down the bridge, Bilbo seized his chance to let his friends loose, praying that they were all still alive.

Sneezing again in the evening cold, Bilbo unsheathed Sting and started cutting the barrels from the raft one by one. He pushed the first one to shore and pried open the lid. With a groan, Thorin pushed himself out and fell onto the shore. Wet straw clung to his hair and he was generally a mess. Bilbo wouldn't have recognized him if it weren't for the gleaming chain around his neck. Judging from his state, it would be some time before he could be polite to the hobbit again. Bilbo tried to pull him to his feet, but Thorin was weak and moody.

"Well are you alive or dead?" Bilbo asked crossly. He'd forgotten that he had had several more meals and better sleep that the dwarves, not to mention a better allowance of air. "Are you still in prison or are you free? If you want food, you'll have to help me get the others out while there is still a chance!"

Thorin willed himself up and begrudgingly helped Bilbo. It was getting rather dark, and it was a nasty job of finding the right barrels to open. As they unpacked them, most of the dwarves lay or sat muttering and moaning on the shore, and they were too soaked and bruised to properly thank Bilbo yet. Dwalin and Balin were two of the most unhappy and were subsequently completely useless. Bifur and Bofur were a little drier but just as useless, as were Oin, Gloin, and Dori. Bombur complained so much and so loudly that Thorin snapped at him, which shut him up for the meantime.

Fili and Kili, being the youngest ones, were the only dwarves that came out smiling more or less; the straw had helped cushion them quite a bit.

"I hope I never smell the smell of apples again!" said Fili as he stretched his sore muscles. "My tub was full of it. It's maddening when you are sick with hunger to smell it and be unable to eat. I could eat anything in the whole wide world except an apple!"

He helped Bilbo and Thorin locate the last barrel that contained Kira. She was so light that it was difficult to tell her barrel from the empty ones. Finally, Bilbo located her by tapping on the barrels and calling for her. She was muffled, but he could hear her calling back. Thorin and Fili picked up her barrel and brought it to shore. They pried open the lid and out she fell.

Kira was beyond grateful to be on dry land again. Her legs were shaking as she sat in the grass, but this was more due to the traumatic experience than from physical weakness.

"I never want to be over water as long as I live," she gasped. "Let my passage into the afterlife be the last time I feel water beneath me."

"I'm sorry to say, you will have one more voyage at least before that day comes," Thorin said with a sigh as he looked out into the water surrounding them. It took all his energy to not immediately go hold her. He wanted with every fiber of his being to comfort her now. Fili seemed to have the same impulse, as Thorin watched him walk over to sit next to her. Kira flashed Thorin a pained expression, so he interrupted his nephew.

"Well here we are on the edge of Laketown," Thorin said rather loudly. "Come, Fili, Bilbo can comfort her. We have a duty to speak to the Master of this town."

Fili begrudgingly stood up. He gave Kira a soft smile and joined his uncle.

"Kili," Thorin said to his other nephew. He motioned to the bridge. The three dwarves set off down the bridge, their heads held high in spite of their raggedy appearance.

"They look quite royal, don't they?" Kira said as Bilbo sat down on the rock next to her. She was watching them disappear in the darkness.

"I suppose," he replied. He rubbed his sore legs. Kira had stopped shaking and was doing the same.

"You will keep your promise?" she asked him. She wanted to make sure he hadn't forgotten over the past few days.

"Of course," Bilbo replied. "I've found I get along with you much better than the rest of these dwarves."

"I am happy to hear that," Kira replied. She looked over the landscape of grumbling, half- drowned dwarves lying on rocks around her. It dawned on her that his would be her new family before long.

* * *

**Author: Thorin can't keep Fili away forever! I've so excited for the next few chapters. :) I hope you all enjoyed this one, btw.**

**So, in late response to an earlier review, nomads do live longer than hobbits but not as long as dwarves. Dwarves seem to live to be roughly 250, but it's hard to say since most of the ones that I found birth and death dates for were killed in battle. Dwalin does go on to live past 300 by most estimates, so who knows how long dwarves actually live to be. Southern Nomads have highly variable lifespans since there is variable mixing with hobbits and dwarves in addition to their original genes. Kira's tribe generally lives to 180ish as far as she knows. The underlying concern about gestation of children, though, isn't something they thought to discuss just yet.**

**To Reaverattack:  
(Ch. 15 Review) Tattoos itch a lot as the scab peals off, and, unfortunately, it can feel worse if you don't have something to distract you. Don't worry, though, it isn't infected. :)  
****(Ch. 16 Review) I know. :( It's going to suck when he finds out. I'm glad you still like the Kira/Thorin romance though. :)**

**To SnowLeopardSwan251: Glad you liked it! :)**

**To Kat: Aw, thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!**

**To Nat: Haha, I try to upload every week. If for some reason I miss a week, I upload two chapters the following week. Hope you enjoyed this one.**

**Thanks everyone for your ongoing support! Your reviews/follows/favorites are like fuel to me. I hope you continue to enjoy my writing!**


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